Still I'd still like to have some PG depth especially since Donte has legit injury risk. With NAW expected to be gone and not replacing him that seems to be a problem to me. I would agree that adding some sort of center might be a higher priority especially if it's some that might grow into a bigger role but not adding a worthwhile player likely on a vet min just because we are worried about Finch not playing Dillingham doesn't seem like a wise plan. Keep in mind Finch has stuck with young guys in the past that he had ahead of other players in the rotation. See Nowell, Jaylen. Better not sign a center because that means Leonard Miller for sure won't play.
Also worth noting the Wolves often found a way to add a ball handling player in the off-season. They lost Kyle Anderson and McLaughlin last off-season but added Dillingham Ingles (to some extent Dozier) then Donte and Randle in a trade. I would not be surprised if they tried to add someone to the roster especially if they lose NAW.
I'll also mention that this team did give Clark some legit minutes as a 2-way guy coming off a serious injury who hadn't played meaningful basketball for over a year till summer league. Dillingham and TSJ would have played more but they did have some injuries that kept them from being available at times. I agree that Finch tends not to play younger guys but it's not like he absolutely won't. Also some of those minutes Dillingham could have had especially down the stretch likely went to those rookies. Again it's nice to have all these wings when we used to struggle to have more than 1...sometimes even above averaging starting wing.
If we lose NAW, those replacements are already in-house in Shannon and Clark getting more of a role. If you wanna add another ballhandler, just boost Rob's role. The FA PG's aren't gonna wanna sign here if it means there being nights where they don't play at all and this situation isn't conducive to that when there's three bodies already here that will want those PG minutes in DDV, Dillingham and Conley.
I refuse to compare Rob's situation to Leonard Miller. If Rob was a 2nd round pick or even a late first, there wouldn't be as much of a demand to see him play. When you trade future assets to get into the top 10 to draft a PG, let alone one from Kentucky, you better use him. We can't go forward treating Rob like he's some 2nd round project. Once they go down that road, Tim has botched that move.
Not sure anyone is comparing Rob to Leonard or suggesting he should be treated the same in terms of playing time (??).
In my opinion, one of three things happens as it relates to the PG position and Rob Dillingham:
1) We do nothing and he starts the season as either DDV or Mike's backup.
2) Conley gets moved in a trade to help match salaries and Dillingham is the backup to whoever we trade for (Derrick White!) or sign as a FA (like one of the Jones brothers).
3) Dillingham himself is included in a trade package for a big name player and he's with a different team next season.
So in my mind, he's either our primary backup PG next season or he's gone. I see no scenario where Finch has him as our 3rd string PG again. But I also don't see a scenario where he's starting unless we go with option #1 above and Dillingham has an incredible offseason of development and then backs it up in training camp, which is possible I guess.
Monster wrote: ↑Sun Jun 01, 2025 10:18 pm
These are all fair points.
Still I'd still like to have some PG depth especially since Donte has legit injury risk. With NAW expected to be gone and not replacing him that seems to be a problem to me. I would agree that adding some sort of center might be a higher priority especially if it's some that might grow into a bigger role but not adding a worthwhile player likely on a vet min just because we are worried about Finch not playing Dillingham doesn't seem like a wise plan. Keep in mind Finch has stuck with young guys in the past that he had ahead of other players in the rotation. See Nowell, Jaylen. Better not sign a center because that means Leonard Miller for sure won't play.
Also worth noting the Wolves often found a way to add a ball handling player in the off-season. They lost Kyle Anderson and McLaughlin last off-season but added Dillingham Ingles (to some extent Dozier) then Donte and Randle in a trade. I would not be surprised if they tried to add someone to the roster especially if they lose NAW.
I'll also mention that this team did give Clark some legit minutes as a 2-way guy coming off a serious injury who hadn't played meaningful basketball for over a year till summer league. Dillingham and TSJ would have played more but they did have some injuries that kept them from being available at times. I agree that Finch tends not to play younger guys but it's not like he absolutely won't. Also some of those minutes Dillingham could have had especially down the stretch likely went to those rookies. Again it's nice to have all these wings when we used to struggle to have more than 1...sometimes even above averaging starting wing.
If we lose NAW, those replacements are already in-house in Shannon and Clark getting more of a role. If you wanna add another ballhandler, just boost Rob's role. The FA PG's aren't gonna wanna sign here if it means there being nights where they don't play at all and this situation isn't conducive to that when there's three bodies already here that will want those PG minutes in DDV, Dillingham and Conley.
I refuse to compare Rob's situation to Leonard Miller. If Rob was a 2nd round pick or even a late first, there wouldn't be as much of a demand to see him play. When you trade future assets to get into the top 10 to draft a PG, let alone one from Kentucky, you better use him. We can't go forward treating Rob like he's some 2nd round project. Once they go down that road, Tim has botched that move.
Not sure anyone is comparing Rob to Leonard or suggesting he should be treated the same in terms of playing time (??).
In my opinion, one of three things happens as it relates to the PG position and Rob Dillingham:
1) We do nothing and he starts the season as either DDV or Mike's backup.
2) Conley gets moved in a trade to help match salaries and Dillingham is the backup to whoever we trade for (Derrick White!) or sign as a FA (like one of the Jones brothers).
3) Dillingham himself is included in a trade package for a big name player and he's with a different team next season.
So in my mind, he's either our primary backup PG next season or he's gone. I see no scenario where Finch has him as our 3rd string PG again. But I also don't see a scenario where he's starting unless we go with option #1 above and Dillingham has an incredible offseason of development and then backs it up in training camp, which is possible I guess.
The 8th pick in the 2023 draft Jarace Walker for Indiana played less than Rob his rookie year playing in just 33 games and 10.3 minutes per game in those 33 games. Walker up that up to 75 games and 15.8 minutes this year for Indiana. Rob being the 8th pick doesn't mean he has to play right away for a team that had championship on it's mind. Hopefully he stays in Minnesota this summer, and work on his game with Ant, Jaden, TSJ and whoever else works out in Minnesota all summer.
If we lose NAW, those replacements are already in-house in Shannon and Clark getting more of a role. If you wanna add another ballhandler, just boost Rob's role. The FA PG's aren't gonna wanna sign here if it means there being nights where they don't play at all and this situation isn't conducive to that when there's three bodies already here that will want those PG minutes in DDV, Dillingham and Conley.
I refuse to compare Rob's situation to Leonard Miller. If Rob was a 2nd round pick or even a late first, there wouldn't be as much of a demand to see him play. When you trade future assets to get into the top 10 to draft a PG, let alone one from Kentucky, you better use him. We can't go forward treating Rob like he's some 2nd round project. Once they go down that road, Tim has botched that move.
Not sure anyone is comparing Rob to Leonard or suggesting he should be treated the same in terms of playing time (??).
In my opinion, one of three things happens as it relates to the PG position and Rob Dillingham:
1) We do nothing and he starts the season as either DDV or Mike's backup.
2) Conley gets moved in a trade to help match salaries and Dillingham is the backup to whoever we trade for (Derrick White!) or sign as a FA (like one of the Jones brothers).
3) Dillingham himself is included in a trade package for a big name player and he's with a different team next season.
So in my mind, he's either our primary backup PG next season or he's gone. I see no scenario where Finch has him as our 3rd string PG again. But I also don't see a scenario where he's starting unless we go with option #1 above and Dillingham has an incredible offseason of development and then backs it up in training camp, which is possible I guess.
The 8th pick in the 2023 draft Jarace Walker for Indiana played less than Rob his rookie year playing in just 33 games and 10.3 minutes per game in those 33 games. Walker up that up to 75 games and 15.8 minutes this year for Indiana. Rob being the 8th pick doesn't mean he has to play right away for a team that had championship on it's mind. Hopefully he stays in Minnesota this summer, and work on his game with Ant, Jaden, TSJ and whoever else works out in Minnesota all summer.
Good point on Walker.
I looked at Rob's rookie stats versus other highly touted PG prospects that entered the NBA after just one season of college ball and are now good starting NBA point guards. He compares well to Fox, Garland, Murray, and Suggs. He compares less favorably to Maxey and SGA.
I do think Dillingham has some extra developmental runway required that some of those other guys didn't need as much, based on his need to develop more size and strength, which won't happen over night, and also the fact he's never really been a pure PG and is wired more like an instant-offense scoring guard and used accordingly at Kentucky.
Now he is going through the Chris Finch crucible of player development, which means he has to start acting more like a real point guard and every minute will be earned, not given. Let's hope it works out!
If we lose NAW, those replacements are already in-house in Shannon and Clark getting more of a role. If you wanna add another ballhandler, just boost Rob's role. The FA PG's aren't gonna wanna sign here if it means there being nights where they don't play at all and this situation isn't conducive to that when there's three bodies already here that will want those PG minutes in DDV, Dillingham and Conley.
I refuse to compare Rob's situation to Leonard Miller. If Rob was a 2nd round pick or even a late first, there wouldn't be as much of a demand to see him play. When you trade future assets to get into the top 10 to draft a PG, let alone one from Kentucky, you better use him. We can't go forward treating Rob like he's some 2nd round project. Once they go down that road, Tim has botched that move.
Not sure anyone is comparing Rob to Leonard or suggesting he should be treated the same in terms of playing time (??).
In my opinion, one of three things happens as it relates to the PG position and Rob Dillingham:
1) We do nothing and he starts the season as either DDV or Mike's backup.
2) Conley gets moved in a trade to help match salaries and Dillingham is the backup to whoever we trade for (Derrick White!) or sign as a FA (like one of the Jones brothers).
3) Dillingham himself is included in a trade package for a big name player and he's with a different team next season.
So in my mind, he's either our primary backup PG next season or he's gone. I see no scenario where Finch has him as our 3rd string PG again. But I also don't see a scenario where he's starting unless we go with option #1 above and Dillingham has an incredible offseason of development and then backs it up in training camp, which is possible I guess.
The 8th pick in the 2023 draft Jarace Walker for Indiana played less than Rob his rookie year playing in just 33 games and 10.3 minutes per game in those 33 games. Walker up that up to 75 games and 15.8 minutes this year for Indiana. Rob being the 8th pick doesn't mean he has to play right away for a team that had championship on it's mind. Hopefully he stays in Minnesota this summer, and work on his game with Ant, Jaden, TSJ and whoever else works out in Minnesota all summer.
Jarace Walker doesn't play much. You know what happened? They traded for Obi Toppin and then acquired Pascal Siakam. Walker was always gonna be a developmental player who eventually got blocked. If Rob isn't playing because we acquired some all-star PG, I can't really complain. What I don't want is for Rob to not get those opportunities because Finch is forever hung up on his lack of size or because we need Donte to be happy.
Also, Indiana had a top 10 pick regardless because they went 35-47 the year prior. They didn't have championship on their mind at that time. They had a 12 game improvement the following season. We went out of our way to trade up into the 8th pick given the lack of assets we already had. The circumstances were different.
Not sure anyone is comparing Rob to Leonard or suggesting he should be treated the same in terms of playing time (??).
In my opinion, one of three things happens as it relates to the PG position and Rob Dillingham:
1) We do nothing and he starts the season as either DDV or Mike's backup.
2) Conley gets moved in a trade to help match salaries and Dillingham is the backup to whoever we trade for (Derrick White!) or sign as a FA (like one of the Jones brothers).
3) Dillingham himself is included in a trade package for a big name player and he's with a different team next season.
So in my mind, he's either our primary backup PG next season or he's gone. I see no scenario where Finch has him as our 3rd string PG again. But I also don't see a scenario where he's starting unless we go with option #1 above and Dillingham has an incredible offseason of development and then backs it up in training camp, which is possible I guess.
The 8th pick in the 2023 draft Jarace Walker for Indiana played less than Rob his rookie year playing in just 33 games and 10.3 minutes per game in those 33 games. Walker up that up to 75 games and 15.8 minutes this year for Indiana. Rob being the 8th pick doesn't mean he has to play right away for a team that had championship on it's mind. Hopefully he stays in Minnesota this summer, and work on his game with Ant, Jaden, TSJ and whoever else works out in Minnesota all summer.
Jarace Walker doesn't play much. You know what happened? They traded for Obi Toppin and then acquired Pascal Siakam. Walker was always gonna be a developmental player who eventually got blocked. If Rob isn't playing because we acquired some all-star PG, I can't really complain. What I don't want is for Rob to not get those opportunities because Finch is forever hung up on his lack of size or because we need Donte to be happy.
Also, Indiana had a top 10 pick regardless because they went 35-47 the year prior. They didn't have championship on their mind at that time. They had a 12 game improvement the following season. We went out of our way to trade up into the 8th pick given the lack of assets we already had. The circumstances were different.
“ What I don't want is for Rob to not get those opportunities because Finch is forever hung up on his lack of size or because we need Donte to be happy.” I’m with you on this, Wildwolf. Regarding Rob’s size, I’ll just note that Garland and Fox were about the same size as Rob coming into the League as were a number of great PGs through the years who were getting substantial minutes by their second seasons and ended up becoming allstars. If Rob’s too small then TC was an idiot for trading all the way up to #8 to draft him. It’s not like his size was a mystery. His measurements were taken at the combine and posted all over the Internet. .
AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Wed Jun 04, 2025 11:24 am
Just came across this nugget of players probably available for the $5.6M midlevel:
Spencer Dinwiddie, Jake LaRavia, Al Horford, Trey Lyles, Kelly Oubre Jr., Chris Paul, Luke Kennard, and Tyus Jones.
Hmm. I can’t get excited about any of these guys. Also, if we sign a free agent at the $5.6 million midlevel we’ll end up over the 2nd apron again if both Naz and Randle return even if NAW departs. But if we move on from Randle and NAW then I can see signing Tyus at the midlevel. On the other hand, I’m not sure Tyus would want to come here where he’s competing with both Mike Conley and Rob Dillingham for minutes.
I think we need to throw your guys Rob Dillingham into the deep end next season while Mike Conley is still here with just enough in the tank to stop him from drowning if he can’t keep his head above water. We need to find out what we have in the guy TC traded all the way up to #8 to get. And we’ll never know if we don’t put him out on the court. If putting him out there means taking a step back next season, that would be the right time since we have our own 1st round picks next year (or Utah’s pick if the Jazz want to swap). If we keep Rob buried on the bench another season we’ll hinder his development, miss a critical evaluation opportunity and diminish his trade value. If he flops and turns out to be a dud then so be it. Let’s find out sooner rather than later.
Speaking of Dilly, there are a couple of paths that smallish guards took that are now productive. VanVleet was a sixth man sniper for Toronto while Lowry ran the show. He has blossomed into a great passer and ballhandler. The other is Quickley who also was a sixth man sniper for the Knicks and now is a decent starter for the Raptors. Running an offense is difficult for young point guards and I don't mind bringing in a Lonzo Ball or Tre Jones or another veteran to start for a few years until Dilly is ready to run the show. Let Dilly run the second unit for now and bring some outside shooting like Vanvleet and Quickley did early in their careers. Conley can ease the ballhandling pressure on him a bit if need be and I expect Conley will soon become a vet mentor more than a player.
KG4Ever wrote: ↑Thu Jun 05, 2025 12:39 am
Speaking of Dilly, there are a couple of paths that smallish guards took that are now productive. VanVleet was a sixth man sniper for Toronto while Lowry ran the show. He has blossomed into a great passer and ballhandler. The other is Quickley who also was a sixth man sniper for the Knicks and now is a decent starter for the Raptors. Running an offense is difficult for young point guards and I don't mind bringing in a Lonzo Ball or Tre Jones or another veteran to start for a few years until Dilly is ready to run the show. Let Dilly run the second unit for now and bring some outside shooting like Vanvleet and Quickley did early in their careers. Conley can ease the ballhandling pressure on him a bit if need be and I expect Conley will soon become a vet mentor more than a player.
I'll add Jalen Brunson to your list. He came off the bench as an older rookie for his first three seasons with Dallas before finally starting the majority of games in his 4th year. Now he's the Knicks' #1 guy.
The only other thing on Dilly is that he wasn't even starting for Kentucky and was used mostly as an instant offense guy, often playing next to Reed Sheppard, who was more of a PG. So he's a little behind the 8-ball in developing the kind of PG skills that Finch really wants from him. All the more reason he's probably not ready to start yet, as much as I'd love him to be our easy answer next to Ant.
KG4Ever wrote: ↑Thu Jun 05, 2025 12:39 am
Speaking of Dilly, there are a couple of paths that smallish guards took that are now productive. VanVleet was a sixth man sniper for Toronto while Lowry ran the show. He has blossomed into a great passer and ballhandler. The other is Quickley who also was a sixth man sniper for the Knicks and now is a decent starter for the Raptors. Running an offense is difficult for young point guards and I don't mind bringing in a Lonzo Ball or Tre Jones or another veteran to start for a few years until Dilly is ready to run the show. Let Dilly run the second unit for now and bring some outside shooting like Vanvleet and Quickley did early in their careers. Conley can ease the ballhandling pressure on him a bit if need be and I expect Conley will soon become a vet mentor more than a player.
My biggest worry for Rob was defense most of the year. After that OKC series, my biggest worry for him is being able to handle playoff physicality like OKC, Houston, Detroit and others play with.
.
