The Timberwolves’ Rob Dillingham stance is becoming clearer by the day

Rob Dillingham is an obvious trade candidate for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The 21-year-old’s time on the floor has largely come from the rotation over the past month and only comes when it’s time for nonsense. It’s been a steep decline for a player who was drafted less than two years ago to be the point guard of the future.

With the Timberwolves’ bench again not producing much on Saturday (other than Joan Beringer), Chris Finch turned to two players who have been on the bench all season, Johnny Juzang and Leonard Miller. Once again, Dillingham saw no court time.

Everyone except Dillingham at this point

It was a valiant attempt at a comeback for the Timberwolves 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 match, Naz Reid left the match with left shoulder pain and did not return. Terrence Shannon Jr. missed his eleventh straight appearance with a left foot injury.

In short, these should be the games where Dillingham sees some time on the field. But 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 started. Going into Saturday, the two had played a total of just 143 minutes on the season, and essentially all of that time came when the match wasn’t in question. Neither player scored on Saturday.

Finch’s replacement of those two with Dillingham seems quite telling. It wasn’t that long ago, on January 10, that 38-year-old, little-used Joe Ingles entered the game in the second quarter in place of Dillingham. It’s as if Finch wants to turn to anyone but Dillingham at this point.

Need a change of scenery

Dillingham, the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, is expected to play a big role this season. Instead, he has seemingly regressed in almost every way from what was not a great rookie season. Remarkably, the 6-foot-1 guard has made exactly a third of his 2-point attempts this year.

It has become quite clear that a change of scenery is needed for Dillingham, and that it would benefit both the team and the player if he were dealt before the February 5 trade deadline. Playing Juzang and Miller (and Ingles) over him only further solidifies that.