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Rob Dillingham was widely expected to be drafted in the top 10 on Wednesday, and sure enough, he went at No. 8 overall. What nobody saw coming was the team that drafted him. It wasn’t a lottery team. No, the Minnesota Timberwolves, who just came three games away from the NBA Finals, just jumped all the way up to No. 8 to land a possible cornerstone young piece out of nowhere. The Spurs, meanwhile, walked away with an unprotected 2031 first-round pick and a protected 2030 first-round swap.
Such a move is basically unprecedented in draft history. Sure, teams will trade lottery picks for future picks from time to time, but 2031 is seven years away. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves, a team ostensibly in win-now mode, just took a huge swing on a one-and-done college player. So what’s going on here? Why did these teams make this trade? Well, let’s grade it and explain the thought process for both sides. In short: this is a win-win deal.
Minnesota Timberwolves: A
Is Rob Dillingham going to be a major contributor to Minnesota’s 2025 championship push? Probably not. Rookie guards are almost never good enough to help win-now teams at the highest levels. Dillingham is small and needs to work on his body. He has to grow as a passer before he can even be called a point guard, though for what it’s worth, the demands of that position in Minnesota are going to be lower than they would elsewhere because of how often Anthony Edwards handles the ball. This is a longer-term pick for Minnesota.
That might seem unconventional given where they are, but remember, Mike Conley is 36. He’s not going to be around forever. Minnesota needed to find a long-term replacement somehow, and they are hampered by the second luxury tax apron. Their ability to add proven, NBA talent is minimal right now. Could they have tried to pick a Conley replacement at No. 27? Sure. But what are the odds they would have found one there? Even in a normal draft, starters rarely fall to the late 20’s. In this weak draft, it simply wasn’t going to happen.
In Dillingham, the Timberwolves…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/rob-dillingham-trade-grades-spurs-timberwolves-both-win-in-one-of-nba-drafts-most-unconventional-deals/
Author : Sam Quinn
Publish date : 2024-06-27 02:04:49
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