Tim Connelly and his staff had to address crucial roster uncertainty for the future and present this summer. Last year, the Minnesota Timberwolves made it to the Western Conference Finals, where they lost in five games against the Dallas Mavericks, and don’t want to regress next season. They have a championship window with Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Rudy Gobert on the roster. However, it may close in the next few years if the team can’t figure out a way to snag their first Larry O’Brien in franchise history.
Much went right for the Wolves last season, including posting the NBA’s best defensive rating (108.4), winning 56 games, and sweeping the Phoenix Suns in the first round. However, it was a building block campaign, and the roster was imperfect. Minnesota’s front office attacked this summer with a list of roster holes they needed to patch, but they didn’t have a complete toolbox. Connelly, newly-promoted general manager Matt Lloyd, and Co. had to get creative in improving the Wolves roster by fielding all options at play.
The primary question: Who is going to backup 36-year-old Mike Conley?
“Certainly, we have to, especially where we are financially, promote within and have some internal improvement,” said Connelly during his exit interview when asked how the Wolves will take the burden off Conley’s shoulders. “But we will look at both. We have the 27th and 37th pick. Pretty excited about that. We have a bunch of young guys on the roster who have not gotten a huge opportunity but are getting better every day. And, certainly, draft and free agency.”
Not only did the Wolves need to find an immediate Conley backup, but they also needed one for the future. Before losing them in free agency, the Wolves had Monte Morris, who they traded for in February, and Jordan McLaughlin on the bench. However, neither of those players would replace one of the most highly regarded floor generals in the modern NBA.
The Wolves needed a player with potential oozing out of their pours while still having the ability to produce immediately in the NBA. They found exactly that in Rob Dillingham, who they traded up to No. 8 in this year’s draft to select.
“Yeah, he’s gonna play. He’s gonna play,” Connelly said after the draft when asked if Dillingham would be in Minnesota’s rotation immediately. “Again, we were pretty aggressive, and we gave up a pretty valuable asset. He’s a guy from Day 1 that is going to be given an opportunity. Obviously, he’s got to earn to keep that opportunity. But we traded for him to play right away.”
Dillingham, 19, started in one game for Kentucky last year. He is listed at 6’1”, 176 lbs., and physically, you could argue that he isn’t NBA-ready. However, Rob averaged 15.2 points on 47.5% (11.3 attempts) from the floor in 32 collegiate games. He was a microwave scorer equipped with shifty and quick scoring moves.
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The Wolves desperately needed an isolation scorer off the bench last year, especially in the West Finals. It would be unfair to expect Dillingham alone to solve that issue on Day 1 of the regular season. Still, he displayed Sunday against the Indiana Pacers, which is why the Timberwolves took a chance on him.
Through the first two minutes on Sunday, Dillingham was up to eight points on an immaculate 3 for 3 from the floor – already eclipsing his total field goal from his first Summer League game on Friday. Rob was aggressively hunting his shot while still commanding the offense.
“Coming into this, I’ve just got to learn everything,” Dillingham told the media after Minnesota’s 105-94 win on Sunday. “The first game is just me trying to get comfortable and learn from my teammates. I can’t really play the game while not scoring the ball, so I’ve got to attack to create, and I feel like that is my game, so I can’t go away from my game.”
In his first Summer League game, Dillingham tallied four points on 2 of 12 from the floor and 0 of 5 from deep. The pace was frenetic, and it was difficult for him to settle into an offensive groove against the New Orleans Pelicans. However, it was a completely different story on Sunday. Rob finished with 14 points on 5 of 14 from the floor and 2 of 4 from deep. He looked confident, played aggressively and urgently, and controlled the offense.
Dillingham’s shot will be there some nights and not the next. It comes with the territory of being a player who takes a lot of attempts, especially as a rookie learning the NBA ropes. The Wolves are expecting that to be the case. His transition to the pros is not going to be seamless. However, he must remember the other, arguably more important duties of being a point guard to make the process smoother.
‘If you are not scoring the ball, they don’t really have to guard you,” said Dillingham on Sunday. “When I am scoring the ball, [the opponent] actually has to guard, so I have way more decisions, and I draw way more attention. When the big is rolling, and two people are guarding, it is easy to make the assist. And if they don’t pick up, it’s a shot.”
Dillingham was getting his teammates involved even when the shot wasn’t falling. He dished out four assists in his first Summer League game; in his second, Rob had eight assists.
We shouldn’t over-index on Summer League results, but the way Dillingham passed on Sunday will translate immediately to the NBA. He snaps the ball to his teammates and distracts the defense with a series of no-looks, similar to how Chris Paul can dominate a game with his passing technique. Rob is playing with a plan and is decisive in when to pass or when to shoot, a lethal combination for a teenager to possess.
“I feel like that is the best part of my game, honestly, because there are a lot of things I can do off of it,” said Dillingham when asked about the up-tick in pick-and-rolls he ran against New Orleans. “When my big rolls, it’s the three, it’s the shot, or it’s the big. I just got to get to the point where I am not getting bumped off of [the screen].”
Rob isn’t competing for a roster or rotational spot right now, as some players are in the Summer League. He’s going to have a prominent role with the big-league squad immediately. However, it’s not guaranteed that he’ll keep that spot. The Wolves are in a win-now mode, and that doesn’t mean Dillingham can’t make the mistakes that any other rookie makes. Still, it means he needs to be more responsive to constructive criticism and quicker to learn the NBA’s nuances.
Dillingham was upset with his performance after shooting 2 of 12 in his first Summer League game. So, he reached out to fellow North Carolina native and five-time All-Star point guard John Wall, who Rob has known since seventh grade.
“[Rob] asked me the other day, ‘When do I score, and when do I get everyone involved?’ I said, ‘Transition is your time to shine, and in the halfcourt, in the first 2-3 minutes of the game, you’ve got to get everybody else shots,” Wall said on ESPN’s broadcast. “That’s what he is trying to figure out: when to be aggressive for himself or when to get his teammates involved.”
Dillingham didn’t take that exact advice and ran with it on Sunday. Still, he was playing his style of game, which Wall also advised him to do.
Chris Finch was sitting behind Minnesota’s bench and spoke with Dillingham after the game, pointing out a few things he needs to improve.
“The little things I need to get better at,” Rob said when asked what he and Finch discussed. “In the end, that three in the corner, I was there [defending], but I am not there enough, so these players are way taller, and I’ve got to contest the shots, especially if we are down three. Also, last minute, I drew the offensive foul, which gave [the Pelicans] two possessions. I’ve just got to know the time on the clock and shoot it in a certain time span.”
Rob also mentioned that he became tired, and the defense was more physical as the game progressed on Sunday, so he started to miss shots.
“[Getting used to that] comes with working out and learning,” Dillingham said.
The Summer League is about learning and getting used to the NBA’s pace and physicality. Dillingham has played well despite a poor shooting performance in Game 1. Being a sponge as a teenager in the NBA is necessary, and Rob appears to be soaking in every piece of advice from everyone around him. If he keeps that up, there should be no reason he doesn’t put together an impactful rookie campaign and eventually replace Conley as Minnesota’s future floor general.
