After Rob Dillingham was traded in the package to acquire Ayo Dosunmu from the Chicago Bulls, he is finally freed from the shackles that he's been in on the bench for his entire career. After trading up to the eighth pick in the 2024 NBA draft to get him, his opportunity to shine in Minnesota was never there.
Following the loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA playoffs, the Timberwolves had a glaring hole at point guard that they thought they solved in acquiring Dillingham. However, right before training camp, they traded for a combo guard in Donte DiVincenzo and a ball-handling forward in Julius Randle. This pushed Dillingham further down the pecking order.
Dillingham never got consistent minutes with the Wolves, now with the Bulls, though, he's getting meaningful minutes.
There wasn't a pathway to play in Minnesota
He was instantly behind Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo in guard depth, and Chris Finch's loyalty to a struggling Mike Conley had him above Dillingham as well. The most unfortunate development for Dillingham was getting outplayed by Bones Hyland, who started the season on a non-guaranteed contract. Being the fifth guard on the roster, his only opportunities came in minimal garbage time minutes.
He got a couple of chances when injuries came into play, but he wasn't able to make the most of them. His Timberwolves tenure ended this year, averaging 3.5 points and 1.7 assists while shooting an underwhelming 33.3% from the field and 36.4% from three.
The Bulls are extremely guard-heavy -- but Dillingham is still playing
The Bulls had a lot of guards going into the deadline, and many thought that they would look to free up space in that room. Unfortunately, they made some confusing moves that jammed up that rotation even more. They traded Coby White, but got Collin Sexton in return. They traded Kevin Huerter, but got Jaden Ivey in return. They traded Nikola Vucevic, but got Anfernee Simons in return (!!).
On top of these moves, they traded for Dillingham, who is going to need to stand out in a less talented, but even more crowded room than Minnesota. One benefit, however, is that the Bulls aren't a team with current championship aspirations, which will give Dillingham a longer leash to play through mistakes.
In his first game with the Bulls, as a Dillingham believer, I couldn't help but smile. The Bulls played him a season-high 22 minutes. He had nine points and four assists, while being a plus-9 in a 16-point loss. During his second game on Monday, Dillingham again notched 22 minutes -- this time recording eight points, seven rebounds, and two steals while posting a plus-7.
It's early, but if Rob can get consistent minutes, even in a reserve role, I'm a believer that there is a good NBA player in there waiting to be unleashed.