Rob Dillingham

[BeenLurkin]

I don’t think I see that in him next year either, but I guess my hope is that we can’t see it because he is still unpolished enough due to lack of reps and not because of a Josh Minott scenario where the reps show someone who can’t learn or change their tendencies enough to earn the role. I will say his jump shot is scary. It does look like he is throwing a medicine ball…but his dribbling and handle is great so I’m hoping the shot isn’t because he’s too small…cause then the ball handle would also look bad.

[cpg29]

At the end of the day, he was a top 10 pick we traded part of our future for. So fair or not, people have a high bar for him and want to see progress. In hindsight, I bet he would have developed a lot more last year if he spent more time with the g league. I know some of that was due to his injuries, but feels like it would have been helpful. I’m optimistic with more game reps his confidence will grow and he will demonstrate improvement across the board. Time will tell.

I’m all for an insurance policy this year to help us compete now in the current window. Even if that results in Dilly eating humble pie and spending some time in g league if he doesn’t grab the job by the horns during preseason / the beginning of the year. He is young enough that it might take longer than we can afford this year for the light to come on. Especially if Conley continues to decline or has injuries

[BeenLurkin]

Went back and watched a few quarters from last years summer league and while his effectiveness offensively as a scorer and his stats look like mirrors of each other year to year it is pretty noticeable that his confidence and comfort ability running the offense is night and day. He looks lost last year and often was just standing there after making a pass. He has taken on the “leader of the team” goal and for better or worse run with it in the first few games. Last year it was more diashen nix who ended up taking the lead on offense with Rob being the scorer and this year with nix and Minott gone Rob and TJ are Taking turns running the offense. Both look much improved in that roll so far. It’s really a great example of stats not telling much of a story. Stats are great when you have a fantasy team or are negotiating a contract.

[Wolvesfan21]

My worry is that Conleys scoring dropped off last year and it is likely to not rebound, if anything get worse. A chance he could have a resurgence, but I think it's unlikely.

I doubt Rob starts the year, but I might just throw him into the fire myself. Let him work through any growing pains all season. I just don't see with a limited Conley/Rob combo how we win a chip. If they think he's not ready then what? I think you just roll with him and take your lumps as much as you can during the 82 games. Just maybe he's solid by playoff time. Also keeping Conley fresher too!

[BeenLurkin]

I think the plan should be to throw him in the fire as well. We know we have a team that can make the finals if everyone is healthy and cohesive…but who cares if we are 1st seed or 6th? Yeah it’s a packed conference but 82 games from now the league will look different. Someone will get hurt, someone will surprise. They shouldn’t go into the season trying to go 35-5 over the first half, we were almost a .500 team till half way last year when it clicked and we got there. They need to find out if Dilly has it or if we need to get someone and send Julius out before the trade deadline and before the season is lost but you gotta give the kid 20plus min imo for at least the first 20 games to know.

[AbeVigodaLive]

My worry is that Conleys scoring dropped off last year and it is likely to not rebound, if anything get worse. A chance he could have a resurgence, but I think it's unlikely.

I doubt Rob starts the year, but I might just throw him into the fire myself. Let him work through any growing pains all season. I just don't see with a limited Conley/Rob combo how we win a chip. If they think he's not ready then what? I think you just roll with him and take your lumps as much as you can during the 82 games. Just maybe he's solid by playoff time. Also keeping Conley fresher too!

Is that fair for the other 13 players on the team though... especially the veterans ready to win a title NOW. And is it fair to put Dillingham in that position?

Whether they're favorites to make the Finals or not... it is a back-to-back WCF team with almost everyone returning. The wolves have veterans all over ready to compete at that level again, from the old Conley to the aging Gobert to 30 year old Randle to young vets like Edwards and McDaniels who've played in a lot of playoff games over several years.

To compromise all of that for a development year for Dillingham seems misguided to me. And I don't think it should sit well for the players, coaches... or other fans either.

The team is built to win NOW. Risking it all for the development of a #8 draft pick who's not even close to a sure thing... yikes. The more I think about it... the more I think a move for a credible PG is part of the plan.



[Note: It's all moot IF Dillingham is legit. I'm talking about if he looks anything like the guy last year who wasn't even on the playoff roster most of the time.]

[BeenLurkin]

Always time to pivot…last three games look distant in the rear view without TJ…
finch always mentions approaching the season like a game, in segments of quarters. That’s why I say we need to use the first quarter to see what Dilly can be with the reps. If we are looking bad at that point there’s time to make a move before the ships sunk.

[Wolvesfan21]

My worry is that Conleys scoring dropped off last year and it is likely to not rebound, if anything get worse. A chance he could have a resurgence, but I think it's unlikely.

I doubt Rob starts the year, but I might just throw him into the fire myself. Let him work through any growing pains all season. I just don't see with a limited Conley/Rob combo how we win a chip. If they think he's not ready then what? I think you just roll with him and take your lumps as much as you can during the 82 games. Just maybe he's solid by playoff time. Also keeping Conley fresher too!

Is that fair for the other 13 players on the team though... especially the veterans ready to win a title NOW. And is it fair to put Dillingham in that position?

Whether they're favorites to make the Finals or not... it is a back-to-back WCF team with almost everyone returning. The wolves have veterans all over ready to compete at that level again, from the old Conley to the aging Gobert to 30 year old Randle to young vets like Edwards and McDaniels who've played in a lot of playoff games over several years.

To compromise all of that for a development year for Dillingham seems misguided to me. And I don't think it should sit well for the players, coaches... or other fans either.

The team is built to win NOW. Risking it all for the development of a #8 draft pick who's not even close to a sure thing... yikes. The more I think about it... the more I think a move for a credible PG is part of the plan.



[Note: It's all moot IF Dillingham is legit. I'm talking about if he looks anything like the guy last year who wasn't even on the playoff roster most of the time.]

My argument is they can't probably win now unless we see good development from Dilly, along with others like TJ and Clark. You're losing NAW so that has to be taken into account by those or a combo of a lot more from DDV and even Ant. Someone has to pick up that slack.

By the trade deadline we'll get a decent gauge on Dilly and if needed trading for a vet if things are not on a trajectory or path to success.

I just think on paper we are a decent chunk behind OKC and maybe even Houston. We're likely going to need several players step up and exceed expectations in order to beat those guys.

[Lipoli390]

My worry is that Conleys scoring dropped off last year and it is likely to not rebound, if anything get worse. A chance he could have a resurgence, but I think it's unlikely.

I doubt Rob starts the year, but I might just throw him into the fire myself. Let him work through any growing pains all season. I just don't see with a limited Conley/Rob combo how we win a chip. If they think he's not ready then what? I think you just roll with him and take your lumps as much as you can during the 82 games. Just maybe he's solid by playoff time. Also keeping Conley fresher too!

Is that fair for the other 13 players on the team though... especially the veterans ready to win a title NOW. And is it fair to put Dillingham in that position?

Whether they're favorites to make the Finals or not... it is a back-to-back WCF team with almost everyone returning. The wolves have veterans all over ready to compete at that level again, from the old Conley to the aging Gobert to 30 year old Randle to young vets like Edwards and McDaniels who've played in a lot of playoff games over several years.

To compromise all of that for a development year for Dillingham seems misguided to me. And I don't think it should sit well for the players, coaches... or other fans either.

The team is built to win NOW. Risking it all for the development of a #8 draft pick who's not even close to a sure thing... yikes. The more I think about it... the more I think a move for a credible PG is part of the plan.



[Note: It's all moot IF Dillingham is legit. I'm talking about if he looks anything like the guy last year who wasn't even on the playoff roster most of the time.]

it’s not necessarily a binary analysis where he’s great so you play him or he’s terrible so you don’t. It’s unlikely he’ll be great next season although I think he can be great in a year or two. It’s its highly unlikely he’ll be terrible. His play will likely fall somewhere on a continuum and his playing time should and likely will reflect where he is on that continuum. It’s also likely that his playing will improve over the course of the season with playing time so it probably makes sense to give him more minutes than his play might otherwise warrant early in the season to help develop him into the player we’ll need down the stretch and in the playoffs. In that sense, it’s not much different from sitting vets to throughout the season to keep them fresh even though it often means losing some regular season games you might otherwise win.

And let’s not panic at the prospect of Dilly not developing as quickly this season as we’d like. The Wolves front office obviously contemplated that possibility, which is in part why they re-signed Randle and probably why the SL coaching staff had TSJ leading the offense so often in his three SL games. Ant typically plays the role MJ and Kobe used to play as a de facto PG. Having SGs like TSJ and Donte along with a playmaking PF like Randle could work just fine. We finished with 49 wins last season but we were much better than that the second half of the season after our guys had gained experience playing together and once Randle adjusted his approach upon returning from injury. We were a really good team without any contribution from Dilly and with minimal contributions from TSJ and Clark.

I do think there is merit to giving Dilly a little more leash that would otherwise be warranted for sake of facilitating his development beyond next season but I don’t think it will come down to that. I think he’ll get more time early in the season to facilitate his development for later in the season and that strikes me as the smart thing to do. I think we’ll find that Dilly helps our NBA Wolves win just as he’s helped the SL Wolves these past four games.

[Q-is-here]

My worry is that Conleys scoring dropped off last year and it is likely to not rebound, if anything get worse. A chance he could have a resurgence, but I think it's unlikely.

I doubt Rob starts the year, but I might just throw him into the fire myself. Let him work through any growing pains all season. I just don't see with a limited Conley/Rob combo how we win a chip. If they think he's not ready then what? I think you just roll with him and take your lumps as much as you can during the 82 games. Just maybe he's solid by playoff time. Also keeping Conley fresher too!

Is that fair for the other 13 players on the team though... especially the veterans ready to win a title NOW. And is it fair to put Dillingham in that position?

Whether they're favorites to make the Finals or not... it is a back-to-back WCF team with almost everyone returning. The wolves have veterans all over ready to compete at that level again, from the old Conley to the aging Gobert to 30 year old Randle to young vets like Edwards and McDaniels who've played in a lot of playoff games over several years.

To compromise all of that for a development year for Dillingham seems misguided to me. And I don't think it should sit well for the players, coaches... or other fans either.

The team is built to win NOW. Risking it all for the development of a #8 draft pick who's not even close to a sure thing... yikes. The more I think about it... the more I think a move for a credible PG is part of the plan.



[Note: It's all moot IF Dillingham is legit. I'm talking about if he looks anything like the guy last year who wasn't even on the playoff roster most of the time.]

it’s not necessarily a binary analysis where he’s great so you play him or he’s terrible so you don’t. It’s unlikely he’ll be great next season although I think he can be great in a year or two. It’s its highly unlikely he’ll be terrible. His play will likely fall somewhere on a continuum and his playing time should and likely will reflect where he is on that continuum. It’s also likely that his playing will improve over the course of the season with playing time so it probably makes sense to give him more minutes than his play might otherwise warrant early in the season to help develop him into the player we’ll need down the stretch and in the playoffs. In that sense, it’s not much different from sitting vets to throughout the season to keep them fresh even though it often means losing some regular season games you might otherwise win.

And let’s not panic at the prospect of Dilly not developing as quickly this season as we’d like. The Wolves front office obviously contemplated that possibility, which is in part why they re-signed Randle and probably why the SL coaching staff had TSJ leading the offense so often in his three SL games. Ant typically plays the role MJ and Kobe used to play as a de facto PG. Having SGs like TSJ and Donte along with a playmaking PF like Randle could work just fine. We finished with 49 wins last season but we were much better than that the second half of the season after our guys had gained experience playing together and once Randle adjusted his approach upon returning from injury. We were a really good team without any contribution from Dilly and with minimal contributions from TSJ and Clark.

I do think there is merit to giving Dilly a little more leash that would otherwise be warranted for sake of facilitating his development beyond next season but I don’t think it will come down to that. I think he’ll get more time early in the season to facilitate his development for later in the season and that strikes me as the smart thing to do. I think we’ll find that Dilly helps our NBA Wolves win just as he’s helped the SL Wolves these past four games.

Agree with you here Lip. The answer can be "both", meaning he gets rope early in the season and every opportunity to be successful, but Finch can ultimately shorten the rotation if he's struggling down the stretch. We don't always have to play a pure PG. It's just that the OKC matchup magnified the issue as one guy after another had problems bringing the ball up or trying to put the ball on the floor.

The other thing is that for all of Dillingham's struggles, at the end of the day, he hasn't proven to be net negative when he does play. He had a positive net rating during the regular season last year (for a point of comparison, Josh Minott was a negative and he had the benefit of playing with the same team mates Rob had) and he's led the Summer League squad to a 4-0 record. He's not like "Hey, let's try playing Zach LaVine as a PG!" bad.

I think the disappointment is in the realization that his ceiling of second star next to Ant is still just a dream and not very close to reality. That's when I turn my thoughts to Terrence Shannon, Jr......