On Monday night in Memphis, Rob Dillingham had his most impressive performance yet for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He scored 15 points on 6 of 8 from the field and 3 of 4 from three in only 17 minutes played, finishing a team-high plus-16. Dillingham brought instant offense to Minnesota’s bench unit and guard room that won’t have Donte DiVincenzo for a while due to a toe injury.
Chris Finch prioritizes veterans and experienced players over his youth and rookies in the rotation. However, Dillingham is forcing his hand quickly. He has showcased the talent at the point guard position the Timberwolves have garnered for the past two seasons.
Tim Connelly took a big risk on draft night, trading two future first-round selections, a 2030 first with the ability for San Antonio to swap, and a 2031 unprotected first to draft Dillingham at the eighth pick. After recovering from an ankle sprain, seeing what Dillingham has to offer only makes sense.
Early in the season, Dillingham only saw minutes in blowouts and games that Mike Conley missed. Therefore, it was hard to evaluate his play. He wasn’t playing often and the context of his minutes was heavily skewed as he was not playing in high-intensity situations.
However, in late November, Dillingham earned real opportunities in back-to-back games against the Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics. He took advantage and scored 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting and 2 of 4 from 3 in 15 minutes at Boston. A day later, he had 12 points on 5 of 13 shooting and 2 of 5 from 3, adding seven assists in 24 minutes against Houston.
Rob still had possessions where he looked like a rookie acclimating to the league. Still, the Timberwolves can use Dillingham as a developing product to jumpstart the team’s offensive blueprint for the future.
Dillingham’s ankle injury prevented him from building off his success against Boston and Houston. However, his recent three-game stint showcased his inevitability after becoming healthy again and successfully playing two G-League rehab games. He scored 9 points on 4 of 6 shooting and 1 of 2 from 3, adding three assists in 13 minutes at New York. He had 12 points on 5 of 10 shooting and 2 of 4 from 3 in 17 minutes against the Cleveland Cavaliers and 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting and 3 of 4 from 3 in 17 minutes at Memphis.
In the six games where Dillingham has played 10 or more minutes, he’s averaging 11 points on 51.9% from the field and 45.5% from 3.
Outside of Anthony Edwards, the Timberwolves lack a lightning rod to jolt their offense. Most of the roster is either veterans or players who are not high-tier NBA athletes. Whether they use their structured sets or not, much of Minnesota’s offense is slow and methodical.
Dillingham offers the Timberwolves something different than the norm. He has supreme quickness, change of direction, and unpredictability. It’s already difficult for opposing teams to stick with Rob’s evasive abilities, even with his rookie growing pains. There’s much more of a dynamic feel when Dillingham is on the court.
Scouts heralded Dillingham for his scoring abilities. However, his budding playmaking ability as a ball mover will jump-start Minnesota’s lineups. Stagnant offensive play and the lack of consistent fluidity have been a lingering issue with the Timberwolves. Occasionally, they have found lineup combinations to address this, but sometimes, the ball gets sticky regardless of who’s on the court.
However, Dillingham is versatile and can play in multiple roles. Most importantly, he can play on and off the ball. Whether he’s pushing the pace with throw-aheads, moving the ball as a connector, or operating on the ball around screens, the Timberwolves haven’t fully tapped into Dillingham’s potential within the offense.
Dillingham has a 35.8% turnover percentage, tenth-worst among players with 150 or more minutes played this season. However, that’s to be expected with a rookie point guard. Dillingham often mistimed his reads and still has to develop his body to deal with the physicality of the NBA. He has not let this deter him, though.
“Before, I was playing more nervous, because I’m scared to mess up,” he said. “Now, I’m playing basketball. If I mess up, I mess up.”
Dillingham has likely established himself in the rotation with his recent play. Josh Minott has returned to his reserve role, and DiVincenzo is out indefinitely, giving Dillingham plenty of opportunity.
The most important thing the Timberwolves and Finch can do is allow Dillingham to play confidently through his mistakes, accelerating his development curve. Much of it comes down to Dillingham’s play, although the Wolves must establish guard rails to guide his development.
While it’s important to see Dillingham find rhythm in situations like the end of the game against Cleveland, where he scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, well after the game was out of reach, in order to build comfortability and confidence. Dillingham must prove that he can continue to impact bench units and lineups that don’t feature Anthony Edwards.
Conley’s rapid decline and Minnesota’s lack of direction at the midway point of the season are creating difficult decisions. The Wolves are heavily monitoring Conley’s minute load. He’s played a career-low 24.3 minutes per game this season and only 22.2 minutes per game over the last 10 games. Therefore, Dillingham has plenty of opportunities to pick up more lead guard minutes. Much of it comes down to the trust Chris Finch has in Dillingham.
“He has my confidence,” said Finch in the post-game presser after deciding to roll back to Conley for clutch time minutes over Dillingham’s impactful stint in the loss at Memphis on Monday. Although there is still a lot of trust to be garnered.
It has created a predicament because Conley brings a vital veteran presence, even though he has not made an impact from a box-score perspective. Conley has shot 0 of 10 from the field and 0 of 7 from deep in his 35 clutch minutes this season. Conley isn’t on the court to be a scorer. However, his struggles invite teams to load up on Edwards, who must become a savior late in games.
Dillingham is emerging as Minnesota sinks into the middle of the NBA standings midway through the season. The Wolves must make changes. They don’t need to be drastic, but Dillingham has shown that he provides enough offense in spurts to overshadow his rookie growing pains.
The Timberwolves already lack a true identity. Therefore, Dillingham’s defensive woes may not be as concerning as they may have been on last year’s team. With how the offense has dragged, there is only one direction to turn for more firepower.
