Rob Dillingham’s push for more rotational minutes for the 2025-26 Timberwolves starts Thursday, when Minnesota opens Summer League play against New Orleans in Las Vegas.

The second-year point guard is in line to serve as Minnesota’s backup point guard next season, continuing to lighten veteran Mike Conley’s workload while serving as another potential creator alongside Anthony Edwards.

“We all know we need some point guard minutes,” Timberwolves assistant coach Max Lefevre said.

But there are boxes the Wolves need him to check on both ends of the floor before that ascension can take place.

Offensively, Dillingham possesses a clear burst to put pressure on opposing defenses and the ability to put the ball in the bucket. Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has noted the Wolves need more of that, and Dillingham is one of the few players on the roster who can provide it.

But Minnesota wants to see less flash and more substance. Dillingham’s nifty handle is fun to watch, but it can also lead to some overdribbling that can bog down an offense.

“Once he picks a direction, we kind of want him to go in that direction,” Wolves Summer League coach Kevin Hanson said. “He’s very shifty, obviously, and we want him to play his game. But there are times where he’s just got to go. … Take that next step in maturity, know where your game is going.”

It’s all part of what Minnesota hopes is a simplification of the 20-year-old’s game. Make the right read in a decisive fashion and execute it. Oftentimes, that read will be to get someone else the ball. The Wolves are successful in Mike Conley’s stints because of the structure he provides. Dillingham has to do some of the same, even in just his second season.

Hanson noted Dillingham is a scorer and a facilitator, but Minnesota needs him to veer a bit more toward the latter.

He knows as much.

“If you’re a point guard, you’ve got the ball in your hands … you’ve just got to make the right play when it’s there. Just running the team,” Dillingham said. “Imagine if you’re on the court and you don’t get the ball, you’re running up and down, playing defense, you’re not going to want to play. You can’t just be on the court and not have someone (touch the ball), because they’re not going to want to play defense. You’ve just got to learn to make your team better and feed everybody, honestly.”

It’s easier to do that as your understanding of the game deepens. Lefevre said Dillingham has experienced “a lot of growth” in the past 12 months. That can be evident in Las Vegas, where the young guard struggled at times a year ago.

“I think the game is slowing down a little bit,” Lefevre said. “I’m really excited for Summer League, honestly. … We’ve got a good team, he’s going to have the ball in his hands, he’s going to have good teammates that can do things, he’s not going to have to do everything.

“So kind of him running the show, making those reads at somewhat of an NBA level in Summer League against really good competition, so I’m really excited to see what it looks like. Because he looks good in practice, but seeing that in real minutes is going to be fun, I think.”

Finch also noted Dillingham has to be comfortable hitting catch-and-shoot attempts off the ball, a position he’ll find himself in when playing alongside the likes of Edwards and Julius Randle. He’ll get more opportunities to take such shots starting this week, as Minnesota works Terrence Shannon Jr. into more playmaking spots.

Dillingham’s jumper was inconsistent in his rookie campaign. Finch and Co. would like less leg movement in the jumper, but the guard feels like his shot is in a “solid” spot.

And then there’s the defensive end, which will ultimately decide what Dillingham’s ceiling is now and moving forward in Minnesota. The Timberwolves have a defensive identity that must be leaned into if they’re to contend for championships.

The coaching staff has lauded the effort Dillingham has given that end of the floor early in his career. There’s a lot he must overcome given his lack of size. But that can be achieved with the energy he exerted a year ago along with a sharpening of his attention to detail.

“We want him to defend at a high rate. He can’t be a minus. We want him to be a plus out there,” Hanson said. “Obviously, there were times when he just got out-sized, but he competed, and that’s Step 1. We’ve seen a lot of guys that don’t do that. He was pretty good at chasing, picking the right routes. Picked up a lot of stuff we do. He rebounds well for a small, and he’s got kind of a knack for steals.

“Those are things he can hang his hat on. He’s just got to be a bit more of a nuisance on the ball and be able to get through screens, all that stuff.”

Minnesota has yet to sign another point guard in free agency after it didn’t address the position in the draft. All of that points to a belief that Dillingham can shoulder a legitimate load next season. But that was the same position he was in last summer. And his apparent lack of readiness was at least one factor in Minnesota deciding to add depth via the Karl-Anthony Towns trade to New York.

But opportunity is knocking yet again. Will Dillingham be there Thursday to meet it at the door?

Rob Dillingham celebrates after being drafted eighth overall by the San Antonio Spurs during the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 26, 2024 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

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FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A man awaiting trial on federal charges of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump last year at his Florida golf course is seeking to get rid of his court-appointed federal public defenders.

A hearing for Ryan Routh’s motion regarding the proposed termination of his appointed counsel is scheduled for Thursday in Fort Pierce, according to court records. The motion requesting the hearing didn’t say why Routh, 59, no longer wished to be represented by Kristy Militello and Renee Michelle Sihvola.

The attorneys didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Routh was hiring a new attorney or planned to represent himself.

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Prosecutors have said Routh methodically plotted to kill Trump for weeks before aiming a rifle through the shrubbery as Trump played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach country club. Before Trump came into view, Routh was spotted by a Secret Service agent. Routh allegedly aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and flee without firing a shot.

Law enforcement obtained help from a witness who prosecutors said informed officers that he saw a person fleeing. The witness was then flown in a police helicopter to a nearby interstate where Routh was arrested and the witnesses confirmed it was the person he had seen, prosecutors have said.

Routh faces charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, assaulting a federal officer, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Besides the federal charges, Routh also faces state charges of terrorism and attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

Routh’s trial is set for September. If convicted, he could face a sentence of life in prison, federal officials have said.

By COLLIN BINKLEY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are urging seven U.S. universities to cut ties with a Chinese scholarship program that lawmakers call a “nefarious mechanism” to steal technology for the Chinese government.

In letters to Dartmouth College, the University of Notre Dame and five other universities, leaders of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party raise concerns about the schools’ partnerships with the China Scholarship Council, a study abroad program funded by China.

The program sponsors hundreds of Chinese graduate students every year at U.S. universities. After graduating, they’re required to return to China for two years. In the letters sent Tuesday, Republicans described it as a threat to national security.

“CSC purports to be a joint scholarship program between U.S. and Chinese institutions; however, in reality it is a CCP-managed technology transfer effort that exploits U.S. institutions and directly supports China’s military and scientific growth,” wrote Republican Rep. John Moolenaar, chair of the committee.

The Chinese Embassy didn’t immediately respond to a request by The Associated Press for comment.

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Dartmouth said Wednesday it has had fewer than 10 participants in the program over the last decade and already had decided to end its participation. Notre Dame said it began the process of terminating its association with the program earlier this year. University of Tennessee said it had also received the letter and was reviewing the committee’s request.

Letters were also sent also to Temple University and the University of California campuses in Davis, Irvine and Riverside. The committee said it’s opening a review into the program’s “infiltration” of U.S. universities and demanded records related to the program from all seven institutions.

The universities’ partnerships with the council bring up to 15 graduate students a year to Dartmouth, along with up to 60 at Temple and 40 at Notre Dame, according to the letters. Some schools split the cost of attendance with China. Dartmouth, for instance, covers 50% of tuition and provides a stipend to doctoral students.

Among other records, lawmakers are demanding documents showing whether scholarship recipients worked on research funded by the U.S. government.

President Donald Trump and House Republicans have stepped up scrutiny of Chinese students coming to the U.S. In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States would revoke visas from some Chinese students studying in “critical fields.” During his first term, Trump restricted visas for students affiliated with China’s “military-civil fusion strategy.”

Many U.S. universities acknowledge a need to improve research security but caution against treating Chinese scholars with hostility and suspicion, saying only small numbers have been involved in espionage.

China is the second-largest country of origin for foreign students in the U.S., behind only India. In the 2023-24 academic year, more than 270,000 international students were from China, making up roughly a quarter of all foreign students in the United States. For a majority of them, their college tuition is paid by their families, rather than by the Chinese government. Many stay to work in the U.S., while some return to China after graduation.

Moolenaar has made it a priority to end partnerships between U.S. universities and China. In May, he pressed Duke University to cut its ties with a Chinese university, saying it allowed Chinese students to gain access to federally funded research at Duke. Under pressure from the committee, Eastern Michigan University ended a partnership with two Chinese universities in June.

Last year, House Republicans issued a report finding that hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding had gone toward research that ultimately boosted Chinese advancements in artificial intelligence, semiconductor technology and nuclear weapons. The report argued China’s academic collaborations served as a “Trojan horses for technology transfer,” accusing China of “insidious” exploitation of academic cooperation.

Associated Press writer Cheyanne Mumphrey in Phoenix contributed to this report.

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

By SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A new lawsuit seeking to redraw Wisconsin’s congressional district boundary lines was filed on Tuesday, less than two weeks after the state Supreme Court declined to hear a pair of other lawsuits that asked for redistricting before the 2026 election.

The latest lawsuit brought by a bipartisan coalition of business leaders was filed in Dane County circuit court, rather than directly with the state Supreme Court as the rejected cases were. The justices did not give any reason for declining to hear those cases, but typically lawsuits start in a lower court and work their way up.

This new lawsuit’s more lengthy journey through the courts might not be resolved in time to order new maps before the 2026 midterms.

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The Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy argue in the new lawsuit that Wisconsin’s congressional maps are unconstitutional because they are an anti-competitive gerrymander. The lawsuit notes that the median margin of victory for candidates in the eight districts since the maps were enacted is close to 30 percentage points.

“Anti‐competitive gerrymanders are every bit as antithetical to democracy, and to law, as partisan gerrymanders and racial gerrymanders,” the lawsuit argues. “This is because electoral competition is as vital to democracy as partisan fairness.”

The lawsuit alleges that an anti-competitive gerrymander violates the state constitution’s guarantees of equal protection to all citizens, the promise to maintain a free government and the right to vote.

The lawsuit was filed against the state’s bipartisan elections commission, which administers elections. Commission spokesperson Emilee Miklas declined to comment.

The Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy had attempted to intervene in one of the redistricting cases brought by Democrats with the state Supreme Court, but the justices dismissed the case without considering their arguments.

Members of the business coalition include Tom Florsheim, chairman and CEO of Milwaukee-based Weyco Group, and Cory Nettles, the founder of a private equity fund and a former state commerce secretary.

Republicans hold six of the state’s eight U.S. House seats, but only two of those districts are considered competitive. In 2010, the year before Republicans redrew the congressional maps, Democrats held five seats compared with three for Republicans.

The current congressional maps, which were based on the previous ones, were approved by the state Supreme Court when it was controlled by conservative judges. The U.S. Supreme Court in March 2022 declined to block them from taking effect.

Democrats had wanted the justices to revisit congressional lines as well after the court ordered state legislative boundaries redrawn before last year’s election. Democrats then narrowed the Republican legislative majorities in November, leading to a bipartisan compromise to pass a state budget last week.

Now Democrats are pushing to have the current maps redrawn in ways that would put two of the six seats currently held by Republicans into play. One they hope to flip is the western Wisconsin seat of Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who won in 2022 after longtime Democratic Rep. Ron Kind retired. Von Orden won reelection in the 3rd District in 2024.

The other seat they are eyeing is southeastern Wisconsin’s 1st District, held by Republican Rep. Bryan Steil since 2019. The latest maps made that district more competitive while still favoring Republicans.

The two rejected lawsuits were filed by Elias Law Group, which represents Democratic groups and candidates, and the Campaign Legal Center on behalf of voters.

Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy are represented by Law Forward, a liberal Madison-based law firm, the Strafford Rosenbaum law firm in Madison and Election Law Clinic at Harvard Law School.