Rob Dillingham is an obvious trade candidate for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Mostly out of the rotation for the past month-plus, the 21-year-old’s time on the floor has only been coming when it’s garbage time. It's been a steep decline for a player who was drafted less than two years ago to become the point guard of the future.
With the Timberwolves’ bench once again failing to produce much on Saturday (outside of Joan Beringer), Chris Finch turned to two players who have made their residence sitting on the bench all season, in Johnny Juzang and Leonard Miller. Once again, Dillingham saw no court time.
Anyone but Dillingham at this point
It was a valiant attempt at a comeback for the Timberwolves on Saturday against the San Antonio Spurs, led by Anthony Edwards’ career-high 55 points, but it wasn’t enough as they fell by three points.
Rudy Gobert missed the game with a bruised left hip. About five minutes into the game, Naz Reid left the contest with left shoulder soreness and didn’t return. Terrence Shannon Jr. missed his 11th-straight outing with a left foot injury.
Very shorthanded, these should be the games where Dillingham sees some time on the court. Except he didn’t.
With 4:21 left in the second quarter, Juzang checked in and stayed on the floor until halftime. Midway through the third, Finch turned to Miller, who stayed in until the fourth quarter began. Entering Saturday, the two had played just a combined 143 minutes on the season, with basically all of that time coming when the game wasn’t in question. Neither player scored on Saturday.
You are not allowed to be mad about a game they lose if Leonard Miller plays in non garbage time
— Brandon Beck (@BrandonBeck4) January 18, 2026
Finch's substitution of those two over Dillingham seems to be rather telling. It wasn't that long ago, on January 10, when 38-year-old, little-used Joe Ingles entered the game in the second quarter instead of Dillingham. It's as if Finch is willing to turn to anyone but Dillingham at this point.
Change of scenery needed
The eighth overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, Dillingham was expected to play a large role this season. Instead, he has seemingly regressed in nearly every way from what wasn’t a great rookie season. Remarkably, the 6-foot-2 guard has made exactly one-third of his 2-point attempts this year.
It’s become fairly evident that a change of scenery is needed for Dillingham, and that it would benefit both the team and player if he were dealt by the February 5 trade deadline. Playing Juzang and Miller (and Ingles) over him just further confirms that.