What Rob Dillingham brings to the Minnesota Timberwolves with Tyler Metcalf of No Ceilings

What Rob Dillingham brings to the Minnesota Timberwolves with Tyler Metcalf of No Ceilings

hello and welcome into another episode of lock down of wolves today on the show Tyler meaf from No Ceilings joins us to talk about the Tiber wolves draft and specifically Rob Dillingham both as a prospect and his fit with the Minnesota Tiber wolves all things Dillingham and the Wolves upcoming with Tyler metf from noons welcome in you are locked on Wolf you are locked on Timberwolves your daily Minnesota Timberwolves podcast part of the locked joh podcast Network your team every day hello and welcome to the lock out wolves podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day my name is Ben Beacon I’m the host of locked on wolves today’s episode is brought to you by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use the code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase terms apply happy Friday everybody happy weekend and uh today I’m going to hit a couple of quick draft things off the top and then we’re going to welcome in Tyler mataf from No Ceilings of course Tyler is a um was a longtime writer for the Wolves at cadis hoopus worked with me before that at Dunkey with Wolves several years ago and he’s been with no se he actually did the postcast here if you listen to postcast regularly he typically was the guest on the home game postcast but did a few away games here and there as well uh so Tyler recaf will join to talk draft he he is a I would call him a draft Guru I don’t know if Tyler I think he’d like that he’s a draft Guru he really is uh does an awesome job at no ceilings uh online and and both YouTube podcasts and um and written work as well so we’ll get to that just a second first a big thank you for making lockdown wolves your first listen every day of course the show is free and available everywhere that includes YouTube as well as all of your favorite audio platforms you can also watch on the lockdown Sports Minnesota app on Roku and Amazon Fire TV and you can follow on X at lockon T wolves and also at B Beacon with two B’s Two e cken all right so the Timberwolves uh round to the NBA draft they came into this thing with picks 27 and 37 of course we know they traded to get pick number eight on Wednesday night in the first round the Timberwolves retained their 27th pick or the I should say the 27th pick of the draft which they ultimately used on teren Shannon Jr and then in um in the second round they had picked 37 which they ended up trading out of entirely on Thursday night so no pick to talk about when we did the show Thursday I thought there’d be a shot that they’d still have a pick no they traded back from 37 to 53 and then from 53 to 57 and then completely out of the first round of the draft and I don’t even know that there has been a um a reported return um after that so uh and also I should say with the 37th pick going to Detroit early in the day before the second round started they also traded W Delmore JR this helps them get further I shouldn’t say they’re not under the cap so it helps them a little bit with salary Relief by trading wend Elmore Jr’s guaranteed salary we can quibble about should they have even picked up his option last October obviously looks right now like they should not have but they didn’t necessarily know they’d be in this exact spot now so I understand why they did it but all that to say they had to give up you know 20 picks in the draft and ultimately all the way out of the second round just to get rid of the contract uh you got to do what you got to do and it it hurts a lot less on the heels of the Rob Dillingham trade the night before than say the I referenced this on Twitter the infamous David Khan tradeback of 2011 when he traded back and out of the round and was raising funds to buy out Kurt Rambis and actually change the way the NBA allows teams to acquire money for picks putting a cap now on how much money teams can get for picks uh that all changed because of David Khan so anyway not exactly that but the Wolves did not make a selection on day two of the draft so we only have the two picks to talk about and man it was a fun first night of the draft for Minnesota I thought they would just pick someone at 27 and that’s all we talk about but instead they trade for eight they keep 27 so what I did with Tyler is we talked Dillingham for today’s show and then we talked about Terence Shannon Jr who the Wolves took at number 27 for Monday’s show so I’m going to save that part of the conversation for Monday but today we’re gonna talk all about Dillingham and the Wolves who without further Ado let’s go ahead and get into my conversation with Tyler meaf of No Ceilings all right I have Tyler meaf of No Ceilings with us of course Tyler is also part of our lockdown wolves postcast cast team this year over at locktown sports Minnesota and uh Tyler is um knows a lot more about the NBA draft than uh than many of us in who mostly just cover the Wolves but Tyler does both so he’s the perfect guest for us because he’s covered the Wolves and the drafts so um excited to have you on Tyler and like the the conversation we have today is all about Rob Dillingham of course the T wolves trading up into the number eight spot in the draft on Wednesday night the first round of the draft of of the uh the two-day I don’t know that we want to call it an extravaganza based on on what Thursday’s draft looked like from a a TV perspective but uh Rob Dillingham of the Kentucky Wildcats the wolves get him at eight they give up a pick swap in 2030 and a or top one pick swap in 2030 and an unprotected 2031 pick to San Antonio talked a little bit about Dillingham actually a lot about Dillingham on the last couple shows here at lockdown wolves but I wanted to get your thoughts uh a couple things certainly overall Dillingham and then also your thoughts on his fit with Minnesota um what should expectations be early on for somebody like this who is was you know not even a starter on his college team not that that was his own fault but uh like stepping right in to a Conference Finals team what could he contribute in your one so we’ll start with just kind of an overall like if you were just kind of giving a a a I guess an elevator pitch on Rob Dillingham as a prospect what are the highlights like what are the things that that make him such an intriguing Prospect and ultimately made him a top 10 pick he’s arguably the best just pure bucket getter in this entire class um you know he is on the smaller side 61 like 165 is give or take uh so he’s tiny he’s he’s a really small dude um in terms of NBA standards obviously but he has something that the timberl don’t have we saw how stagnant and lifeless we their offense got in the playoffs especially against the Mavs where Anthony Edwards was the only guy who could just go out and get a bucket out of any situation Rob Dillingham was arguably the best in the entire country and this entire draft at doing just that he did it on ball off ball at The Rim from three in the mid-range and then he also has a lot of creativity and playmaking to his game for others so there is that legitimate translation to being more of a point guard and not just a 61 shooting guard which is always tough so he’s fun man just if he was 6’4 65 he probably would have been the number one pick I was going to say is is that’s the first thing that that stands out is is the size and defensively like it seems like I guess we could start there I hate well I ha to start where he’s he’s maybe lacking a little bit but it’s related to the size because I think that’s the primary reason why there’s there’s some concern with him defensively it seems like and and correct me if I’m wrong but he had some pretty good moments on the ball pretty good moments point of attack where he it’s not a lack of effort it’s it’s more of a um lack of size and strength when it comes to navigating screens and maybe some technique things that that should get cleaned up you know need to get cleaned up at the next level but if if any team was going to have somebody an undersized point guard I mean the Wolves were a a a a really good defensive team with 37y old Mike Conley who’s obviously bigger and and skilled and and a veteran but also like Jordan mlin on the floor right like they were still a really good defensive team so the Wolves should be able to absorb having a smaller point guard on the floor as long as he’s giving them that effort and and and uh you know cleans up some technique at the point of attack I mean is that is that close or what are your thoughts on him defensively uh defensively he’s probably going to be a disaster um the the bright side is you know he did have a steel rate of like two and a half yeah um so there there is some sort of defensive playmaking aspect to his game and if he can maintain some of that I think it’ll be enough uh to balance with the offense he’s never I would be stunned if he’s ever a plus Defender um but if he can just not get played off the floor and opposing teams in college did that a couple times this year most notably the Gonzaga game they went after him relentlessly on the defensive end so he’s small I you know I think he kind of wants to defend some of the gambling and jumping passing lanes and defensive playmaking stuff is encouraging but he also looks like a guy who’s never been taught how to defend and never been asked to defend so when you get that combination and a guy of with his physical stature the end result is pretty rough and that’s kind of what we saw most of the season I I would enter this season with zero expectations for him on defense but kind of like you alluded to for that minute span before the trade was announced and San Antonio picked them I was like I like it because they have that defensive infrastructure they have size and length around him and then the trade got announced that he was going to Minnesota it’s like all right these feelings are the exact same he’s going into the number one defense in the league from last year basically from start to finish they have a ton of size a ton of athletic versatile Defenders around him and it’s not like their small point guard who started basically every game was the leading Catalyst for their defense so if there’s a team who could find success despite having a small defensively inept point guard it’s the Minnesota timber wolves today’s episode of lockedown wolves is brought To Us by our friends at game time our title sponsors game time is an authorized ticket Marketplace in Major League Baseball which makes getting tickets faster and easier prices on the game time app actually go down the closer it gets to the first pitch with killer last minute deals Allin prices views from your seat and their lowest price guarantee game time takes the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets uh really anything you want to attend it’s not just baseball either it’s not just Sports it’s also concerts comedy theater all of the above save up to 60% off buying last minute and I am a procrastinator so if I need a ticket get to anything last minute I’m definitely going to use game time for their last minute deals can also save even more with exclusive inapp deals on select seats ahead of the game or event with their Flash Deals they also have all-in pricing that you can toggle on it shows you your total upfront with no surprise fees at checkout and they have the lowest price guarantee if you think you find a better price elsewhere game time will credit you 110% of the difference take the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use the code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem the code locked on NBA l c k d o n NBA for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed yeah and for a player like that that is so talented offensively and you mentioned you know he he may have never really been asked to defend or or you know at at uh prior to getting to Kentucky he maybe didn’t need to apply himself that much defensively you wonder much they’re they’re it could be contagious you know joining a team like the wolves and you hope that that’s that’s true to an extent and and I mean given the size limitations it’s very rare that a a 6 foot 61 uh player in the NBA becomes a plus Defender so that’s that’s fair I think uh hopefully there’s you know there is that level of like all right well if everybody else is getting down in a stance and doing this you know I can’t too and the steel rate popped out to me as well as something that was encouraging at least I don’t know how much of that was gambling I watch enough of his full games to know if that was something that happened too much but it at least in shows that there’s some like knowing where to be at the right time you know to to his game and and certainly offensively which I want to get into uh quite a bit on that end of the floor uh that’s actually a pretty good segue because something that popped up to me like we’ll talk about the shooting which is awesome uh the catch and shoot was crazy last year uh that the handle is probably the best in the draft or is the best of the draft really uh the touch is great but the thing that surprised me the most watching um a bunch of his tape was something that nobody was like I I saw a couple scouting reports that were floating around out there that were like oh well the passing accuracy needs to be better and things like that and then when I was watching him I was like you know what that might be true but the fact that he’s getting to some of these looks with the ball in his hands as a oneandone guy at Kentucky like like reading the defense in the way that he did but then also uh Beyond just reading the pick and roll which is one thing but like the feel of like all right I’ve got this guy on my hip I’m going to shoot a floater I’m going to stop and pop a 15f footer or or I’m gonna fake that and then this guy you know sags in and then I can hit the guy in the opposite corner like those sorts of reads to me felt really Next Level and if it’s just a matter of improving some of the accuracy it seemed like the timeliness was good for as much as the ball in was in his hands the turnover rate was really quite low um so that to me stuck out as something that isn’t getting talked about enough that I think plays immediately in the NBA I never understood the playmaking concerns with him because when you look at the numbers and ratios I he had an assist to turnover rate or ratio of 2.0 that’s fantastic uh assist rate of 30.1 turnover rate of just 15.6 and that’s on a usage rate of 29.9 y so he had the ball all the time he’s creating a ton not turning it over I I’ve never understood those concerns because when you just when you watch him play there’s a sense of craft and creativity that very few players in this class really possessed where when he’s getting Blitz blitzed in the pick and roll he’s taking a couple extra dribbles to drag those Defenders with him to free up his teammate a little more he’s changing angles to avoid Defenders with his interior passing he’s tossing lobs making skip passes I I love the playmaking and I really think there’s a legitimate and very quick path for him to just playing as a point guard but I think one of the reasons that we saw him more in that shooting guard role this year was one Kentucky had DJ Wagner and Reed Shepard who are well Reed Shepard was very good and um two the big question with Rob coming into this season was can he actually contribute and play winning team basketball because in high school he spent a year at Kanye West D Academy which was an absolute disaster then he went to OT which has produced Some solid basketball players but their commitment to Modern nbes colleges style of B basketball and that you know doing the little things at a high level it’s not necessarily there and a lot of his tape was like just highlight culture stuff where you flip on the the Highlight Reel and he looks awesome but then you watch everything in between and it’s like what is this decision making what is happening then he goes to Kentucky and Calipari did a fantastic job of just kind of raining that in while still letting him explore that creativity in his game so as a point guard the playmaking I have almost zero concerns yeah the the playmaking really really popped to me and especially like I said I was surprised when that was a concern because there are people who immediately there’s very few people that it seems like out there did not like the trade but there’s some concern concern is a strong word but I saw a little bit floating around out there on Twitter like ah well he’s a he’s a shooting guard and you already have Anthony Edwards Andy’s undiz but the playmaking is really like in in a sense it made me think of and I guess this gets into a little bit of of the next thing I want to talk about and we’ll get back to some of the offensive stuff I think along the way but that role that the Timberwolves really want off of their bench and you know go back to jayen noell and and how much Chris Finch obviously really wanted him to be kind of a microwave Off the Bench that was the he would frequently mention him as like a member of the core he had a really good year and then two years ago was awful and you know isn’t really in the league anymore at least not permanently and then last year it was Shake Milton and he was awful in a timber wolves uniform despite having been pretty solid in Philadelphia before that this is like the same idea where it’s it’s a combo guard who can initiate offense but can also get his own shot he’s a better shooter than both of those guys now I mean he only played one year of college but he was I think I think 38% off the dribbles what I have down and 48% on catch and shoot threes on 88 attempts this year which is not a tiny sample um so he could get his own shot off from anywhere and he can make it and he can shoot catch and shoot off the ball and that seems to fit really really well with either running the bench unit as like hey this is your offense or it’s like you and Nas that need to score um or you’re gonna play with Anthony Edwards because ant’s goingon to run the bed sheo it but you can play off the ball and just knock down open threes all day when ant’s on the floor it just kind of seems to be that same Noel shakees role that the Tim rules keep trying to fill and clearly he’s got more juice and obviously a lot more upside than either those guys yeah that that that’s it he he can play on ball he can play off ball um and he showed that all year and when just to go back into some of the Synergy numbers I 97th percentile spotting up 89th percentile pick and roll ball handler 57th percentile isolation 58th percentile off screens and spot up you know the the distribution of the play type frequency I mean spot up and pick and roll ball handler were both about a quarter of his possession so he’s playing a ton on ball he’s playing a ton off ball and he’s incredibly efficient at both of them and and he’s creating for others and using that scoring gravity to really manipulate defenses and draw them into you know different spots to create for either himself or teammates um his his recognition speed his processing speed combined with his creativity it it just really was a big reason why kuy’s offense was putting up like legit nbes numbers and why he was one of the most electric scorers and just allaround offensive creators in the country I on our YouTube channel I broke down a bunch of his film from this year and I would just just to highlight the different areas of how he can impact the game on and off ball and a lot of its sets that we see the Timberwolves run a lot between horns action with him on Ball and off ball running off a stagger screen floppy action all that kind of stuff is legit NBA actions and he’s finding a way to contribute wherever he’s placed in that set today’s episode is brought To Us by our friends at eBay Motors passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your r or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you’re into speed power or style eBay Motors has you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you’ll always find exactly what you’re looking for plus with eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back because with eBay Motors you’re burning rubber not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want it’s easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusions apply eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers yeah and you mentioned all the different um you know play types that he succeeded in I mean he he uh shot 50% as a pick and roll ball handler uh 43% on threes out of uh out of pick and rolls like all that stuff is stuff that the wolves are going to do and to give them somebody else besides Anthony Edwards that on the perimeter can create you know uh like I I think there’s clearly doesn’t have the size of any Alexander Walker but there’s there’s obviously more and I know coming out of college Alexander Walker was thought of as like hey could he develop more but that like that’s already there for Dillingham like he can already do all this stuff and he immediately can kind of be that like I don’t know that he’s we can talk a little about this I don’t think he’s going to immediately like be the sixth man because you’re still talking about a Conference Finals team that has Nas Reed on it that’s going to get plenty of opportunity um but I just think the offensive game is so well-rounded the floater game you don’t often see somebody that truly is I know the the finishing in the paint um was maybe a little bit spotty and and he’s small but he’s crafty and he’s got such good touch that he really is a somebody who could score if the floater range also mid-range jumpers if he needs to he could also knock down threes we talked about that I think the scoring in the paint will still be fine even with his size because of the touch he has and how crafty he can be um and it’s very rare to find somebody that can do all of those things um coming into the NBA and I mean you you started with this like if he was a little bigger he’s probably the best player in this draft kind of hands down and he was already kind of a consensus top 10 pick um but yeah I just think I think the fit with the Timberwolves is is really really perfect given what they were looking for I think now from a Wolves roster standpoint we’ll talk more about this next week as free agency opens but surely the Timberwolves you know and and we’ll also talk here um about about teren Shannon Jr and the Wolves didn’t end up making a pick in the second round clearly they’re going to bring in another guard on a vet minimum deal could be mlin again but um it seems like the plan is to basically say hey between you and Nik Alexander Walker like you guys are going to run the show off the bench for us this year uh it seems pretty unlikely they’re going to go spend the mid level on on you know a Monte Morris or somebody like that that’s gonna need a little bit more than the minimum yeah I by in the kind of post day one pressers and everything Finch and Conley are saying it sounds like he’s playing a lot right away um so there’ll be a learning curve and all of that stuff and Finch will have to be patient through that learning process and those errors and let him kind of learn on the Fly which we haven’t always seen but we also haven’t really seen Finch come in with rookies of this caliber um so you know the the rookies that haven’t played have been second rounders or very late first rounders for the most part and the the young players with some pedigree with some real juice to their game Jaden McDaniels Anthony Edwards He’s played he’s played them a lot and let them experiment and let them learn and let them process so I I think that’s going to be the plan with Rob is just we’re going to throw you out there in a lot of different situations you’re going to be running the second unit you’re going to be playing off ball off of an probably I bet we see some Conley Dillingham pairings occasionally too we saw that with Morris and Conley down the stretch so I if they go B like three bigs out there they be weird having two 61 guys and three near seven Footers but there are some really cool and fun and creative things that the this Timber roster can utilize because dillingham’s just bringing an off ensive spark to to the overall rotation that they just simply did not have last year all right uh anything else that we didn’t get to on Dillingham that that you want to point out any I mean we talked already about the defensive concerns but is there anything we missed uh that that we want to leave the people with um yeah you you kind of touched on it but just real quick with the at Rim stuff he’s tiny it’s going to be more of a struggle um in the NBA obviously than it was in college at Kentucky just 52.6% overall at The Rim but in the half court that was up to 58% so it’s one of those weird drer positions where he was much better in the half court than in transition we typically see that flipped but he also has that really reliable counter of that in between floater and this year 53% on the floater that’s a really high number 88 percentile in points per shot on the floater this year so he does have that counter already kind of established in his game and he he he’s also really comfortable throwing lobs so as he continues to develop I think there are a lot of counters there where he can kind of toy with drop Defenders and yeah he’s small finishing around the rim is going to be a little more inconsistent than it was at Kentucky but there’s a lot of craft and kind of counters available to his game that should hopefully nullify that long term all right uh so this is part one of our conversation we talked about uh Dillingham of course on Monday’s show we’re going to air the second part of our conversation talking about Michael shann Excuse Me Tan Shannon Jr not the actor tan Shannon Jr on Monday we’ll talk about that here in the next conversation with Tyler all right so there you have it Tyler metf on Rob Dillingham the newest one of the newest members the Minnesota Timberwolves lots to like there and uh I mean I don’t know there’s there’s so much upside offensively for Minnesota now and for the bench she it almost overnight we’re going to talk about the other reason for some optimism Terence Shane and junor on Monday’s show uh my conversation with Tyler we did another 15 20 minutes talking about tan Shannon we also talked a little bit about at the end about what the Wolves may or may not do in free agency of course there’s not a whole lot of options in fact we’re going to run this Monday I’m just kind of assuming that the Tiber wolves aren’t going to do anything crazy during there won’t be anything crazy that happens over the weekend in the legal tampering period that opens on Sunday by the time we do the show Monday I I would imagine that that shanning conversation will still be able to run then if anything else happens if there’s anything else major we of course Shi Shu Shuffle shift that around a little bit on Monday and early next week and of course we’ll talk lots of free agency but the end of Tyler and my conversation that will Air Monday we did talk a little free agen see what the Wolves may try and do related to slow-mo and the mid-level exception so lots to get to there we’ll talk more about that next week we covered it a bit on the Minnesota basketball party this last Wednesday if you missed that it’s on YouTube on the lockdown Sports Minnesota YouTube channel also that episode posted the audio myself uh Reggie Wilson of car L and Ron Johnson the Ron Johnson show and also Sam Extron of lockdown Sports Minnesota that posted like Wednesday late afternoon early evening shortly before the draft so if you missed that episode go check that out this weekend uh or today Friday or this weekend uh we did talk some free agency at the end after some of the draft talks so go back and check that out and again lots of free agency here on the show next week a big thank you for making lock on wolves your first listen every day of course this show is free and available everywhere that includes YouTube as well as all of your favorite audio platforms wherever you like to listen to podcast you can find locked on wolves you can also watch on the lockon sports Minnesota app on Roku and Amazon Fire TV and you can follow on X lockon wolves and also at B Beacon with 2bs 2 e cken of course the lockdown wolves podcast is part of the lockedown podcast Network remember the lockdown network is your local experts on all the biggest stories once again I’m Ben Beacon this is the lock on wolves podcast and we’ll catch you next time

The Minnesota Timberwolves traded up to No. 8 to select one of the best offensive players in this year’s NBA Draft in Kentucky’s Rob Dillingham. Tyler Metcalf (@tmetcalf11) of No Ceilings joins Ben Beecken (@bbeecken) to break down Dillingham’s fit with the Wolves, including what is most intriguing about him as a prospect and what he’ll bring to the bench unit, plus his shortcomings and what Wolves fans can be excited about from Day One.

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