Bones Hyland has one key advantage to earn minutes over Rob Dillingham

Many Timberwolves fans weren’t quite sure as to why their favorite team was so interested in bringing back Bones Hyland. Added on a two-way contract back in February, he barely played for Minnesota. Through two preseason games, it has become clearer as to why the Wolves have brought back the 25-year-old point guard. It's now possible that Hyland can crack the Wolves' rotation.

Bones Hyland has been lighting up the scoreboard

Nobody has ever said that Hyland isn't adept at scoring the basketball. While he hasn’t always been the most efficient scorer, Hyland has provided instant offense coming off the bench at times during his career. His career-high is 37 points, and he has 19 outings in his four-year career (including playoffs) of at least 20 points.

Now, preseason action should sometimes be taken with a grain of salt, but Hyland is playing with extreme confidence on the offensive end through their first two preseason outings. In Minnesota's overtime loss against the Pacers on Tuesday, Hyland finished with 11 points in just 12 minutes. He shot 4-7 from the field and connected on three of his five 3-point tries.

It was more of the same (just in more playing time) for the 2021 first-round pick in the preseason opener on October 4 against the Nuggets. In 22 minutes, Hyland had 18 points on 5-8 shooting against his former team. He also went 3-4 from beyond the arc and 5-6 from the foul line. He was the leading scorer for either team.

It’s not like Hyland hasn’t made an impact in the league before; last season was just a difficult one for him. He has limitations on the defensive end, but so does Rob Dillingham, a player who seemed to be earmarked for the backup point guard role.

Rob Dillingham's shooting struggles

Now, Dillingham has shown off his floor general abilities in the preseason. He has totaled 13 assists in 45 minutes. Hyland pales in comparison with 3 in 33 minutes. 

It is important, though, for Dillingham to showcase the outside shooting accuracy he displayed during his one year at Kentucky. The slender-bodied point guard has had his struggles finishing at the rim. Dillingham has also made just one of his five 3-point attempts in the preseason (only 3-12 from inside the arc). 

As a rookie playing irregular minutes, Dillingham shot just 33.8% from 3-point range. From February 1 until Minnesota was eliminated from the conference finals, he shot a miserable 4-32 from 3-point territory.

Again, you can’t just assume what occurs in preseason will continue into the regular season. The Timberwolves invested a lot in Dillingham. They gave up a 2030 and a 2031 first round pick (2030 is the right to a pick swap) to the Spurs in order to acquire the eighth overall pick in 2024, which was used on Dillingham. He doesn’t turn 21 until January 4.

Dillingham still likely has the upper hand for minutes over Hyland for now, partially due to what the team gave up to get him. Still, Chris Finch needs to play whoever he believes gives Minnesota the best chance to win, especially with a championship on their mind. Right now, Hyland's scoring seemingly makes him better positioned to contribute.

With Mike Conley turning 38 on October 11, there’s also a possibility that the Timberwolves look to acquire a point guard during the season if it becomes evident that it is a clear need.