Minnesota Timberwolves On the first night of the NBA draft, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly was ecstatic. His team had just made a spectacular run to the Western Conference finals and had few options for improvement.
He had been looking for days for a way to trade up to acquire a dynamic playmaker for his offensive line, so he had a spring in his step when he made that move and acquired Rob Dillingham with the No. 8 pick. He saw Dillingham not only as the scorer the Timberwolves needed right now, but also as a player who could develop into a 19-year-old. Mike ConleyA potential successor to the point guard position.
Dillingham’s bold moves and powerful highlight reel had raised high expectations for the Timberwolves’ summer league team, but his first four games were a disappointment, with his small size too obvious under the neon lights of Las Vegas. He struggled to make shots near the basket, missed too many 3-pointers and was still adjusting to the physicality of defenders stepping up from college.
That’s no surprise for a young player playing the game’s most demanding position. Though the shots weren’t falling, Dillingham was impacting the game with his passing and embracing the Timberwolves’ defense-first mentality despite his limitations on that side of the court.
It took a while — until Sunday’s final game, to be exact — but Dillingham finally showed off his full potential and gave Timberwolves fans a glimpse of what he’s capable of, as he finished with 25 points on 11-of-18 shooting to go with 12 assists and two steals in Minnesota’s 115-100 win. Orlando Magic.
But it wasn’t just the numbers that were noteworthy: It was how Dillingham put it together that stood out.
He’s starting to make the quick, pull-up 3-pointers that made him so dangerous at Kentucky.
Fly away, Rob.
🏹🏹🏹🏹 pic.twitter.com/VZx4lKSYZH
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) July 21, 2024
What excited the Timberwolves most about scouting Dillingham wasn’t his shooting ability, but his ability to break down defenses, find teammates and create explosive offense with ease.
Looking at his college tape, he could already be one of the best lob throwers for the Timberwolves. Rudy Gobert Aggressively. Karl-Anthony Towns Conley has proven adept at working with Gobert, but outside of that, the Timberwolves don’t have many options for that combination. Kyle Anderson teeth Golden State.
Dillingham showed against the Magic that it’s a weapon he has.
Lenny pic.twitter.com/sREHdgaxNi
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) July 21, 2024
Given his scoring struggles through his first four games in Las Vegas (four points on 2-of-12 shooting in Game 1, 14 points in Game 2, 10 in Game 3 and 15 in Game 4), it’s not surprising Dillingham wanted to add a little more spice to his best performances.
🚨🚨 Rob Dunk 🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/ONPUqYa7a7
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) July 21, 2024
Dillingham shot 36 percent from the field and 30.8 percent from 3-point range through five games, but his first few games were frustrating.
“It’s frustrating not making the shots, but I guess to be honest, it just comes down to doing everything else,” he said after the opener.
That’s what the Timberwolves coaches were concentrating on with Dillingham in the days leading up to his trip to Las Vegas and ever since he arrived. He shot 44.4 percent from 3-point range against Kentucky. His jump shot was like a flamethrower. That it hasn’t always worked in four straight games hardly mattered to anyone on the team.
“It’s not about scoring goals for him, he’ll understand that in the long run. NBA“How to score, how to pick his chances,” summer league head coach Chris Hines said. “He’s very talented. We just have to figure out how to hone that talent.”
The Wolves view this as a process for Dillingham: There will be nights, like Sunday, when he lights up the scoreboard, blasting 3-pointers, throwing lob passes and charging into the center of the field. There will also be nights when it doesn’t work out and he finds space against bigger, stronger players.
That’s a lot to ask of a young player for a team that wants to win next season, but the way the team is structured is to develop Dillingham throughout the season, and as the only true point guard behind Conley, that means he’ll have plenty of opportunity to learn as he plays.
The Wolves also Anthony Edwards, Nickeil Alexander Walker and Joe Ingles While Dillingham can thrive as the primary ball-handler, the plan is to bring him in, develop him throughout the regular season and then put him in a perfectly defined role come playoff time that works well for him and the team.
“He has a lot of movement in his game and he understands the dump-off pass,” Hines said last week. “Once he starts understanding how to read the court and the pick-and-roll, he’s going to be a beast in terms of getting everybody involved.”
So Dillingham proved in Las Vegas that he can make game-winning plays without scoring. He averaged nearly 30 minutes per game and a healthy 7.6 assists per game. He also grabbed 4.2 rebounds per game, unusual for a point guard his size, and played aggressively on defense, which is what Gobert and the big club will need from him when they convene for training camp this fall.
“He’s going to be a scoring player in the NBA one day,” Hines said. “It’s just a matter of him understanding our culture and adapting to it, and we’ll develop everything else behind that.”
Dillingham leaves Las Vegas with a better understanding of what he’ll face in the league — there will be more talent and size waiting for him in October — and he knows what he’ll have to work on in the two months before training camp begins.
“I know I need to get bigger,” Dillingham said, “but the more confident I am, the less it seems to matter.”
You’re not going to put 20 pounds of muscle on a 6-foot-1, 165-pound body in the next six weeks. You’re going to build strength gradually over time. But the blueprint is there.
Atlanta Hawks Star Trae YoungAt 6-foot-1 and 164 pounds, Young struggled in his first few games as a rookie in the 2018 summer league. It took him a while to figure out how to make up for the size gap and find his spot. By his second year in the league, Young was an All-Star.
The Timberwolves aren’t looking for Dillingham to be an All-Star right away, but they do want him to be a key piece on a very good team. He won’t be the center of attention the way Young was with the Hawks the past six seasons. Dillingham will have far more talented players around him to help him as he gets acclimated to a new league and a new team.
Dillingham has a lot to learn and grow from, and the competition will only get tougher from here on out. As he showed on Sunday, he can also be something the Timberwolves desperately need.
(Rob Dillingham Photo by Adam Hagee/NBAE via Getty Images)
