When the Minnesota Timberwolves made the shocking decision to trade a 2030 protected first-round pick swap and an unprotected first-round pick in 2031 to the San Antonio Spurs for Kentucky Wildcats combo guard Rob Dillingham, it felt like one of the riskiest draft day trades in recent memory.
Sure, the 6-foot-1, 175-pound guard came with serious pedigree. He's a five-star recruit from ESPN who was Second-team All-SEC, a member of the SEC All-Freshman Team, and the SEC Sixth Man of the Year, but at only 19, with just one collegiate start under his belt, would the speedy young guard be able to get acclimated to the NBA level right away, playing against pros who are almost exclusively bigger, fast, and stronger than he is?
With Summer League officially in the books, it's safe to say some – though, critically not all – of those questions have been answered.
Officially earning his first looks for the blue, white, green, and grey, Dillinger looked encouraging for the Summer Timberwolves, leading all rookies in points created per game at 34.0 while putting up a solid enough stat line of 13.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 7.6 assists per game, hitting 36 percent of his shots from the field and 31 percent of his shots from deep. At times, Dillingham looked savvy, driving to the bucket like an energizer bunny and setting his teammates up for a score on the wing.
So far so good, right? For optimistic fans, you bet, but when you consider that a very good shooter has a 50-40-90 stat line, Dillingham's inability to get his shot off from deep, but especially from the field, makes things incredibly frustrating to watch indeed, especially since *spoiler alert* he probably isn't going to get any taller.
Can Dillingham embrace contact, become a foul merchant, and score around the rim at a high clip, following in the footsteps of Minnesota's current point guard, Mike Connley? Clearly, that's the Timberwolves' intention, as they wouldn't have traded away a future first over a half-decade into the future for a player they didn't strongly believe it, but for Minnesota to get where they want to be, they have to find a way to get points on the board when Dillingham is on the court, which may end up coming more as a distributor than as a primary offensive option scoring buckets like Collin Sexton coming off the bench.
Fortunately, the Timberwolves coach staff appears to understand the importance of cultivating Dillingham as a complete player and feel encouraged by his initial run as a Summer League point guard.
The Timberwolves believe Rob Dillingham can be a well-rounded PG
Sitting down for an interview with The Athletic centering around Dillingham's pedigree, present, and possible future role with the Timberwolves, Minnesota Summer League head coach Chris Hines explained what he liked about his new point guard so far and how they plan to get him ready for the NBA level both now and heading into the future.
“It’s not about him scoring. He’ll figure that out in his long journey in the NBA, how to score, how to pick his spots. He’s super talented. We just have to figure out how to hone that talent in,” Chris Hines told The Athletic.
“He has so much wiggle in his game, and he understands the dump-off passes right now. Once he starts understanding how to read the floor, the pick-and-roll, he’s going to be a beast in terms of having everybody involved. He’s gonna be a prolific scorer in the NBA one day. It’s about understanding our culture and fitting into that culture. We’ll develop everything else behind that.”
Whether in Las Vegas or Lexington, Hines has consistently found ways to run an offense for himself and his teammates, as you don't win Sixth Man of the Year in the SEC, let alone get drafted ninth overall, if you can't get up offense. While Dillingham is undersized, just an average outside shooter and the sort of player who will need to adjust his game from the college ranks to the pros in order to get to the line and to the rim with more frequency, the Timberwolves clearly viewed themselves as a team that was a sixth man away from being serious contenders in 2024-25 while also having a deceptive need for a point guard of the future when Connley hangs up his shoes.
If Dillingham can thread that needle and become a short-term and long-term contributor for the Timberwolves, it's safe to say this trade will age like fine wine, especially when you consider the player the Spurs got out of the deal is currently in middle school.
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