Consistent minutes have been difficult to come by this season for Rob Dillingham, likely more so than they are for many rookies selected in the top 10 of the NBA Draft.
Injuries have played a role. Dillingham has twice missed stretches due to ankle sprains, the last of which kept him out of commission for three weeks.
“I’ve always played. I never had to go through where I’m not playing, especially because of injury. It was new to me,” Dillingham told reporters Friday in New York. “But I just had to sit back and realize why it was happening, then take my time off and get ready for when I do get in the game, just like now.”
Even when healthy, the University of Kentucky product’s opportunities have been minimal and sporadic. When he returned from his ankle injury, Dillingham first had to play a couple of “rehab” games with the organization’s G-League affiliate in Iowa — common practice in professional basketball, but not something any established NBA player would have to do.
Dillingham’s situation this season has largely been a product of being on a good team. The Timberwolves didn’t originally own the No. 8 overall pick it used to nab Dillingham last summer; they had to trade up to get it.
The Wolves were in the Western Conference Finals a year ago, and still maintain lofty aspirations for this season. When healthy, they have eight legitimate, starter-caliber players. And they’ve been healthy for much of the season. So, it’s hard for Dillingham — young, inexperienced and currently a defensive liability — to crack such a rotation.
“It’s hard to explain to him, like, ‘Bruh, you know this is why you not playing,’ and X, Y and Z,” Anthony Edwards told reporters Friday. “I just try to tell him about that situation all the time.”
Dillingham’s college teammate is enduring something similar. Reed Sheppard was the No. 3 overall pick in the draft and hardly sees the court for Houston. Like Minnesota, the Rockets are a deep, competitive team with a lineup that’s tough to crack.
That’s not unusual across pro sports. Dillingham’s current teammates can commiserate with the 20-year-old point guard.
Rudy Gobert played just 45 games at the NBA level as a rookie during the 2013-14 campaign, averaging fewer than 10 minutes per contest. He also had to go down and play in the G-League, which the center noted was called “the D-League” a decade ago.
“And my ego was hurt,” Gobert said. “But it felt good to go out there and just play, dominate, realize that you’re still a good basketball player.”
There was no G-League stint for Edwards as a rookie, but he did have to come off the pine. The No. 1 overall pick didn’t start until the 18th game of his first season. Edwards has relayed that to his rookie teammate.
“His answer would be the same that mine would be,” Edwards said. “Like, ‘Bro, I don’t care.’ ”
Like Edwards, Dillingham has full confidence in his abilities. That’s often an asset, as it was when Dillingham stepped onto the floor in New York against the Knicks. Fresh off two clunkers in the G-League, the rookie — receiving an opportunity with Donte DiVincenzo out with a sprained big toe — had nine points and three assists in 13 minutes.
“Really good,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said of the performance. “I thought he was patient, created some open shots for his teammates. There was a bunch of pop, so it was really good.”
It wasn’t as great Saturday against Cleveland, but that’s to be expected. It won’t affect the guard’s confidence. He’s simply happy to be playing, which he felt always should have been the case.
“He said something that stuck out to me the other day. He said, ‘You think I’m gonna hurt y’all if I get out on the court? You think I’m gonna hurt y’all?’ ” Edwards recalled. “He was like, ‘No, I’m gonna help.’ You can’t really say nothing back to that because the confidence is there and he done showed it. He showed in Boston. He showed it (against New York), he show it when he plays.”
Gobert likes that mentality.
“It’s a good sign he’s frustrated by not playing. If you don’t care, that means you’re not ambitious enough, so I love that,” Gobert said. “The only thing I tell him is to keep putting in the work. When you’re frustrated, put that frustration into working more, working harder, learning, taking care of yourself, getting stronger. That’s what I did. … I love that he feels like he truly can help the team, and truly feels like he can dominate out there.”
DiVincenzo’s absence is giving Dillingham a chance to prove it. His teammates have full confidence the rookie will do just that.
“He fire; everybody know it. The world know it. It just takes time. It’s going to happen,” Edwards said. “He’s going to start playing more and more and more. He just got back healthy. We been missing him the last couple weeks. He just got back out there and showed why he should be playing. Just gotta have faith in him.”
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