Rob Dillingham

[BloopOracle]

Dillingham has an incredible off ball game, I think it should have been mentioned with his shot creation as an elite skill.

[Monster]

Dillingham versus other freshman blue-chippers that eventually went on to become great NBA scorers:

Name - Points per 40 Minutes/TS%
Rob Dillingham - 26.1/.595
Anthony Edwards - 23.1/.520
Tyrese Maxey - 16.2/.531
SGA - 17.1/.578
Jamal Murray - 22.7/.590
Malik Monk - 24.8/.586
Trae Young - 30.9/.585
Kyrie Irving* - 25.3/.697

* Irving only played 11 games for Duke before getting hurt as a freshman.

Only Trae Young scored more than Dillingham on a Per 40 minute basis. And his efficiency is second only to Kyrie Irving.

Of course the big caveat here is that Dillingham came off the bench mostly and didn't have the same responsibilities as a 30+ MPG guy.

Those stats are telling. I think I’ve now watched every Dilly video on the Internet, including Overtime Elite highlights and video draft reviews. Watching what Dilly does and how he plays leaves no doubt he’s an extraordinarily gifted offensive player. His handle, speed and change of direction/speed with the ball are phenomenal. His shooting is tremendous. His combo platter of ball-handling, quickness, craftiness and shooting is extremely rare. More than anything his feel for the game is off the charts. This kid’s go that special something. I expect him to put on 15 pounds of muscle in couple years. I believe the added muscle weight plus experience with a veteran winning team and the mentorship of Mike Conley over the next two years will develop Dilly into an all-star.

Lip maybe you mentioned this in a draft thread but how would you compare Dilly to Darius Garland? I was just thinking the way FA has played out I think it's pretty clear the Wolves REALLY believe in Dilly.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I think Dillingham could have a positive impact offensively... with some up and down moments since he's so young. He could be a very good change-of-pace guy and bring some energy off the bench.

But defensively, I don't see how it isn't ghastly.

He's simply too small. And he's too young right now. They're going to have to hide him. And he might be close to unplayable in some playoff matchups...

[WildWolf2813]

I think Dillingham could have a positive impact offensively... with some up and down moments since he's so young. He could be a very good change-of-pace guy and bring some energy off the bench.

But defensively, I don't see how it isn't ghastly.

He's simply too small. And he's too young right now. They're going to have to hide him. And he might be close to unplayable in some playoff matchups...

I'd rather try to hide a crap defender while he works on it then teach someone how to shoot.

[Q-is-here]

I think Dillingham could have a positive impact offensively... with some up and down moments since he's so young. He could be a very good change-of-pace guy and bring some energy off the bench.

But defensively, I don't see how it isn't ghastly.

He's simply too small. And he's too young right now. They're going to have to hide him. And he might be close to unplayable in some playoff matchups...

I'd rather try to hide a crap defender while he works on it then teach someone how to shoot.

He's indeed small, but I'm more concerned about his weight than his height. He's taller than guys like Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry, Payton Pritchard, Tyus Jones, Kemba Walker, and Patty Mills. A few of those guys have rings.

He needs to bulk up and keep getting stronger. He'll never be a plus defender, but he needs to get to a Kyrie Irving level, who has been pretty good at turning it on during the playoffs. It likely won't be this year and I do agree the playoffs especially could be problematic.

[Monster]

Just finished watching UK vs Alabama. Lots of offense in this one!

A lot of the game I thought Dillingham'd was at least just fine. He made a few nice team defensive plays where he helped off and was part of what created a couple turnovers. He looked to have some calculation of when to do it and when not to. He did end up with another 4 fouls and one was kinda bad as Alabama was in the penalty late in the first but he was aggressively playing up so it wasn't all bad. Around the mid point of the 2nd half Estrada who is a pretty clever offensive player absolutely got Dilly all turned around on D and Dilly lost him another time. He always seems engaged on D with his hands up at least some and scanning around.

Dillingham also had a few hustle plays again battling with guys way bigger than him to keep balls alive. I'm not saying the guy is always flying around everywhere but what I've seen in the games I have seen he is ready and willing to go after it on plays.

Offensively this game was much more exciting. He missed a couple easier shots early a shot at the rim and a 3 but he was pretty good after that either making shots or drawing fouls he was 5-9 overall Meanwhile his passing playmaking and overall decision making were pretty good. First half he dimed up big man Ivisic on a pass to the rim. He finished with 4 assists but it could have easily been more. He had a one handed off the dribble pass to a teammate in the corner that didn't lead to a shot but it was kinda like ok he can do that. He made drive and kick passes, simple perimeter passes passes to bigs. Shepard is the better passer true PG and defender but Dillingham looks plenty capable of making plays for others and making reads etc. He also has the ball handling skills plus is a legit shooter so he has the other skills needed to set things up for himself and others. He doesn't look wildly fast to me but he definitely understands how to change pace and it's very fluid. There was one possessions he made a move past his man there were 2 guys to beat and he made it look way too easy getting to the rim for an easy layup. For how much of a scorer he is he doesn't seem like me a guy that's basically looking to do it all himself. He is on a pretty talented team so that's wise but sometimes you don't see that.

I'm not absolutely sold on him being a star guard in the NBA (that's not a knock just being a bit cautious) but there are clearly some nice attributes to work with and I can see why the Wolves went up to get him although just his stats were enough for me to understand that. So far I think his passing is very underrated and the thing I think makes me the most bullish on him succeeding in the league especially if that 3 point shooting translates. Playmaking PGs that can shoot and make 3's at some sort of volume are valuable. Maybe there are more defensive PSs now or ones that play alongside a high level scoring guard but in the past there were not many good offensive PGs that were an asset on D or even not an overall liability. Conley was one of those guys and still is.

[Q-is-here]

Through three summer league games it's fair to say that Rob Dillingham has struggled. In the first two games he at least sported a really nice assist to TO ratio and flashed the mindset of a real PG and not just a score-first player in a point guard's body. Well, he had 7 TOs last night, so he kind of torpedoed "the ball is in safe hands" narrative as well!

I think these games are really important for him, as he's obviously getting first-hand experience in playing against NBA-ish defenses and being forced to guard some NBA-ish talent. It hasn't been pretty, but the sooner he experiences these lows, the sooner he can start climbing back up.

I've mentioned it before, but we do have a bit of a hedge on the A-team so that we aren't relying on RD for 20 MPG right off the bat. I think Finch will sub NAW in for Conley and we'll see an Ant/NAW backcourt to close out the 1st quarter, with Rob likely coming in for Ant to start the 2nd and then Conley eventually coming back in at PG. This would limit Dilly to 10-12 MPG to start the season and ensure he's paired with an elite defender in NAW.

[FNG]

Again, I'm not unhappy with us moving up to select Rob. And I recognize that Finchie has said he will play this season. But I'm totally understand now what Tom Crean said: he has great potential, but probably won't be ready to contribute much until the second half of the season. We've had a chance to watch him for three games against competition far worse than what he will see in the NBA, and here is what I have seen:

Defense: some flashes of potential, but way more bad than good
Shooting: pretty much a disaster, both from the outside and around the rim. I'm confident this will improve based on his college shooting, but right now he's not able to beat summer league defenses.
Playmaking: Better than what I would have expected, but the turnovers last night were an eye-opener and evidence that he is not ready to effectively run an offense.

The Wolves are 100% in win-now mode, and putting Rob out there as our backup PG right away is not going to help us win games. I'm always willing to be wrong, and maybe we will see a changed player after training camp. But right now I see the Wolves either going with the no-PG approach they used in the playoffs or possibly giving the early-season keys to Nix. I'm inclined to think it will be the former.

Hope I'm wrong on this one.

[60WinTim]

Again, I'm not unhappy with us moving up to select Rob. And I recognize that Finchie has said he will play this season. But I'm totally understand now what Tom Crean said: he has great potential, but probably won't be ready to contribute much until the second half of the season. We've had a chance to watch him for three games against competition far worse than what he will see in the NBA, and here is what I have seen:

Defense: some flashes of potential, but way more bad than good
Shooting: pretty much a disaster, both from the outside and around the rim. I'm confident this will improve based on his college shooting, but right now he's not able to beat summer league defenses.
Playmaking: Better than what I would have expected, but the turnovers last night were an eye-opener and evidence that he is not ready to effectively run an offense.

The Wolves are 100% in win-now mode, and putting Rob out there as our backup PG right away is not going to help us win games. I'm always willing to be wrong, and maybe we will see a changed player after training camp. But right now I see the Wolves either going with the no-PG approach they used in the playoffs or possibly giving the early-season keys to Nix. I'm inclined to think it will be the former.

Hope I'm wrong on this one.

You’re sleeping on PJ Dozier!! I do not see a role for Nix on the A-team, but PJ is a “knob” that might help Finchie work thru the growing pains we will get with Dilly.

[FNG]

Again, I'm not unhappy with us moving up to select Rob. And I recognize that Finchie has said he will play this season. But I'm totally understand now what Tom Crean said: he has great potential, but probably won't be ready to contribute much until the second half of the season. We've had a chance to watch him for three games against competition far worse than what he will see in the NBA, and here is what I have seen:

Defense: some flashes of potential, but way more bad than good
Shooting: pretty much a disaster, both from the outside and around the rim. I'm confident this will improve based on his college shooting, but right now he's not able to beat summer league defenses.
Playmaking: Better than what I would have expected, but the turnovers last night were an eye-opener and evidence that he is not ready to effectively run an offense.

The Wolves are 100% in win-now mode, and putting Rob out there as our backup PG right away is not going to help us win games. I'm always willing to be wrong, and maybe we will see a changed player after training camp. But right now I see the Wolves either going with the no-PG approach they used in the playoffs or possibly giving the early-season keys to Nix. I'm inclined to think it will be the former.

Hope I'm wrong on this one.

You’re sleeping on PJ Dozier!! I do not see a role for Nix on the A-team, but PJ is a “knob” that might help Finchie work thru the growing pains we will get with Dilly.

Good point, Tim. I don't love Dozier's game personally, but TC does, and there is some evidence that TC knows the game better than I do! I forgot that Dozier primarily played PG his last year in college (unlike Clark), so it won't be a stretch for him. And I know he would fit in defensively. Yeah, maybe he will be the backup until Rob proves himself ready.