The Minnesota Timberwolves had a great 2023-24 season that saw them advance all the way to the Western Conference Finals for only the second time in franchise history. They were looking for the missing piece to get them over the hump in the 2024 NBA Draft, and they just may have found it. The team acquired Rob Dillingham, a guard from Kentucky and one of the draft's top prospects.
In order to land Dillingham, Minnesota had to make arguably the biggest move of the draft. The team wasn't on the clock until pick 27, but Dillingham was viewed as a lottery talent. So, the Timberwolves made a trade with the San Antonio Spurs to shoot up the draft board and secure the Kentucky product with the eighth pick. In this article, we are going to grade that move for Minnesota.
State of the Timberwolves
The Timberwolves have a great starting lineup and some nice rotation depth to boot. Their outlook for next season and the years to come is impressive. Notably, the team has the best big man rotation in the league.
Rudy Gobert is fresh off winning his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award, and Karl-Anthony Towns is a four-time All-Star and already the best three-point shooting center ever (although he is now playing the power forward position). On top of those two, the team has Naz Reid coming off of the bench. Reid has rare athletic abilities and scoring touch for a big man, and it led to him winning the Sixth Man of the Year award last season. Even the 6-foot-9 Jaden McDaniels is one of the best defensive wings in the league.
Despite all of that talent, we haven't even gotten to Minnesota's best player yet. During their postseason run, Anthony Edwards announced himself to the world as one of the best players in the NBA. The athletic two-way player is the future of the league, but he is ready to dominate it now.
The point guard position is the Timberwolves' weakest spot. Mike Conley has been a great fit since the team traded for him in early 2023, but he will be 37 years old next season. The lead guard is under contract for two more seasons, but the clock is ticking on the veteran playmaker's career.
Additionally, the team lacks depth behind Conley, especially considering it would be smart not to give the aging veteran a heavy workload going forward. Because of that, Rob Dillingham is the exact player that Minnesota needed. Dillingham is a 19 year old who played one season at Kentucky.
A look at the Rob Dillingham pick
Dillingham came off the bench for the Wildcats, so he is familiar with the sixth-man role that he will likely play early in his career. Don't get it twisted, though, Dillingham has star potential. Most experts considered Dillingham a top-10 prospect, and some even viewed him as a top-five player in the draft.
If it wasn't for his frame, though, the undersized guard might have been the consensus top player in the 2024 NBA Draft. Dillingham is only 6-foot-1, and he weighs 165 pounds. He is really small for the NBA game, and that might make defending professional level players an issue.
Even so, he is joining arguably the best defensive team in the NBA, and he will be surrounded by more than enough size. Elite defenders like Gobert, McDaniels, Edwards, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker will be able to pick up any slack made by Dillingham on the defensive end. Even if Dillingham isn't tailor-made for NBA defense, it isn't like he is incapable on that end. He will need to add strength, but he has shown decent feel on the defensive end.
It is his offense that should get Timberwolves fans excited, though. Dillingham was the best pure scorer in the entire draft class. He is a great athlete with electrifying speed and burst. He has a twitchy movement style and a variety of dribble moves, and these traits allows him to get to the spots he wants with ease.
Dillingham has a great finishing package when he gets to the rim, he has an impressive pull-up game off of the bounce, and he is a great shooter from beyond the arc. Even against better defenders in the NBA, Dillingham should be an elite bucket getter. The point guard even showed off the ability to be a playmaker at Kentucky, too, as his passing improved steadily throughout his lone season in college.
Dillingham will likely start his career as a spark plug scorer off of the bench, and that is a role he should thrive in from day one. The young guard has star potential, though, and he gives Minnesota's young core another exciting piece to be excited about. Dillingham has drawn Darius Garland comparisons, and the rookie-to-be has a legitimate chance to become a 20-plus point-per-game scorer down the road.
Analyzing the trade
The Timberwolves held the 27th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, but Dillingham was never going to fall that far in the draft, even with the concerns regarding his size. So, Minnesota made a move you can't even describe as aggressive, but more so just logical, in order to trade up to pick number eight.
The deal struck with the Spurs cost Minnesota pennies on the dollar. It only cost a 2031 first-round pick and 2030 draft pick swap option for the Timberwolves to land the lottery pick. That is a small price to pay for such a prestigious draft selection, especially considering Minnesota nailed their pick.
The Spurs drafted Victor Wembanyama with the first pick in last year's draft, and the year prior they added three first-round players (Jeremy Sochan, Malaki Branham, Blake Wesley). With the fourth pick already in hand (Stephon Castle), the Spurs again had multiple first-round picks this year, and adding another young player to their already young core was a little bit overkill in their eyes.
The Timberwolves took advantage and swooped in to make the trade. They gave up a pick swap six years from now that may never convey, as is Minnesota's hope, considering they still plan to be a good team by that point. They also gave up a first-rounder seven years down the road. Perhaps Minnesota isn't a playoff team by that point, but the odds of that pick being better than the eighth overall selection are slim.
With those assets being so far down the road, Minnesota has plenty of time to win a championship, and if the Dillingham acquisition helps that to happen, then this trade will be more than worth it.
All in all, the decision to trade up to pick eight and the succeeding choice to draft Dillingham were home-run moves for the Timberwolves. In fact, we will go as far as to say the Dillingham deal was the best move of the first-round, especially considering Minnesota was able to hold onto their 27th overall pick and draft Terrence Shannon Jr.
Overall draft grade for Rob Dillingham acquisition: A+
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