BleedGopher
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Per Chris:
After consecutive NBA Western Conference finals appearances, the Timberwolves are a team in win-now mode.
They have three starters in their 30s (Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle and Mike Conley) and a franchise player in Anthony Edwards, who has shown he is capable of leading the team on playoff runs.
But in the summer of 2024, the Wolves made a move that had more of an eye toward the future than on the present when they traded for the No. 8 pick from the Spurs to draft guard Rob Dillingham. He didn’t see the floor as much as he would have liked last season, and he hasn’t sugarcoated his answers when discussing that this preseason.
“It’s hard to explain. For y’all, if y’all have something you love to do and you do it every single day and then y’all just can’t do it, but you’re still working out at it, but you don’t get to perform, you gonna feel something inside,” Dillingham said. “It’s not towards people, it’s just life.”
Dillingham, who averaged 4.5 points on 10.5 minutes per game, was in an odd position for a top-10 pick a year ago. Normally, players who go that high in the draft are going to teams that didn’t make the playoffs the previous season, and they get plenty of playing time when the stakes for the franchise are lower.
But that wasn’t where Dillingham was. Instead, he was on a team with deep playoff aspirations, and a team that was trying to figure out a lot after a major trade for Randle and Donte DiVincenzo — not just trying to chart how Dillingham would fit into the rotation.
Moreover, it’s not typical for rookies to be efficient players once they enter the NBA. That’s not a knock on Dillingham, it’s just a fact of NBA life. Last season, Dillingham said he felt like a “robot” at times trying to do the things he needed to do to make sure he earned playing time.
“In my head I’ve always played. So not playing, you don’t want to not play,” Dillingham said. “I want to play. So whatever I got to do to play, whether [coach Chris Finch] wants me to do — pass the ball, pick up [on defense], I’m just gonna have to do."
www.startribune.com
Howl Wolves!!
After consecutive NBA Western Conference finals appearances, the Timberwolves are a team in win-now mode.
They have three starters in their 30s (Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle and Mike Conley) and a franchise player in Anthony Edwards, who has shown he is capable of leading the team on playoff runs.
But in the summer of 2024, the Wolves made a move that had more of an eye toward the future than on the present when they traded for the No. 8 pick from the Spurs to draft guard Rob Dillingham. He didn’t see the floor as much as he would have liked last season, and he hasn’t sugarcoated his answers when discussing that this preseason.
“It’s hard to explain. For y’all, if y’all have something you love to do and you do it every single day and then y’all just can’t do it, but you’re still working out at it, but you don’t get to perform, you gonna feel something inside,” Dillingham said. “It’s not towards people, it’s just life.”
Dillingham, who averaged 4.5 points on 10.5 minutes per game, was in an odd position for a top-10 pick a year ago. Normally, players who go that high in the draft are going to teams that didn’t make the playoffs the previous season, and they get plenty of playing time when the stakes for the franchise are lower.
But that wasn’t where Dillingham was. Instead, he was on a team with deep playoff aspirations, and a team that was trying to figure out a lot after a major trade for Randle and Donte DiVincenzo — not just trying to chart how Dillingham would fit into the rotation.
Moreover, it’s not typical for rookies to be efficient players once they enter the NBA. That’s not a knock on Dillingham, it’s just a fact of NBA life. Last season, Dillingham said he felt like a “robot” at times trying to do the things he needed to do to make sure he earned playing time.
“In my head I’ve always played. So not playing, you don’t want to not play,” Dillingham said. “I want to play. So whatever I got to do to play, whether [coach Chris Finch] wants me to do — pass the ball, pick up [on defense], I’m just gonna have to do."
How does Rob Dillingham fit in with the Timberwolves in Year 2?
The second-year player from Kentucky was not in the rotation last season, and for the first time in his life had to sit and watch more than play.
www.startribune.com
Howl Wolves!!