Rob Dillingham Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pablo Prigioni To Remain With Timberwolves

July 26th, 2025 at 12:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran assistant coach Pablo Prigioni has decided to remain with the Timberwolves amid interest from the Knicks, reports Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link).

According to Begley, Prigioni – who has been on the Wolves’ staff since 2019 – cited family reasons for his decision to stay in Minnesota. Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link) noted earlier this week that Prigioni is “highly thought of” within the Wolves’ organization and has been working closely with 2024 lottery pick Rob Dillingham.

A former NBA point guard who spent two-and-a-half seasons in New York as a player from 2012-15, Prigioni transitioned to coaching following his retirement in 2017. He spent one season on Brooklyn’s bench in 2018/19 before landing with the Wolves.

Prigioni, 48, was originally hired under Ryan Saunders, but carried over to Chris Finch‘s staff in 2021 and has now been with the Timberwolves for six seasons in total. The Knicks were recently granted permission to speak to Prigioni as they look to fill out their coaching staff under new head coach Mike Brown.

As the Knicks continue to consider their options on the coaching market, one candidate who is “squarely on their radar” is Clippers assistant Brendan O’Connor, according to Begley, who says O’Connor is known for his defensive acumen.

Even if the Knicks were to hire O’Connor away from L.A., they’d likely remain on the lookout for another assistant who could help with their offense, Begley adds.

Fischer’s Latest: RFAs, Smart, Vucevic, Brogdon

July 25th, 2025 at 11:12am CST by Luke Adams

In addition to sharing the latest updates on Nets guard Cam Thomas, NBA insider Jake Fischer checked in on the other three most notable remaining restricted free agents during his Bleacher Report live stream on Thursday, discussing Bulls guard Josh Giddey, Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, and Sixers guard Quentin Grimes.

Fischer stated that he doesn’t expect there to be resolution on either Giddey or Grimes this month (YouTube link) and expressed a belief that Grimes, Kuminga, and Thomas will eventually agree to short-term deals with their respective teams rather than long-term contracts (YouTube link).

While that leaves Giddey as the most likely player of the quartet to work out a longer-term agreement, Fischer added that he thinks Giddey’s dynamic with the Bulls is the “most strained” of the bunch right now, due to how the negotiations have played out so far (YouTube link).

Here’s more from Fischer:

Before Marcus Smart agreed to a buyout with Washington and signed with the Lakers, the Wizards had “a ton” of trade discussions about the former Defensive Player of the Year, per Fischer (YouTube link). The Bucks, Hawks, and Heat were among the teams that spoke to the Wizards about possible deals involving Smart, according to Fischer, who says that Washington and Miami talked at one point about a trade that would’ve included Terry Rozier.
Responding to a question about the possibility of the Bulls trading Nikola Vucevic, Fischer stressed that there isn’t much of a market for the veteran center (YouTube link). “I think at this juncture, we’re probably more likely to see a Nikola Vucevic buyout mid-season than we are to see a trade,” Fischer said. “Depending on how the market unfolds, depending on how injuries develop. There just really hasn’t been much of a Nikola Vucevic trade market in a while.”
Fischer views the Timberwolves as perhaps the most logical landing spot for free agent guard Malcolm Brogdon (YouTube link). Fischer acknowledges that that Minnesota wants to give youngsters Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. more opportunities to establish themselves as rotation players, but notes that the team could use another veteran option to complement Mike Conley, who will turn 38 in October. “I think Minnesota still stands as a really good situation for Malcolm Brogdon and one that he’s been monitoring, one that the Wolves have checked in on,” Fischer said. “I’m not making a prediction, but I think that’s a good situation for Malcolm Brogdon.”

Northwest Notes: Shannon, A-Rod, Avdija, Hansen

July 22nd, 2025 at 9:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Terrence Shannon Jr. was named to the All-Summer First Team on Tuesday. The Timberwolves guard stood out in Las Vegas and he’ll look to parlay that success in his second NBA season, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic writes.

Shannon could be as the main candidate to fill the void left by Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who averaged 25.3 minutes per game last season and signed with the Hawks as a free agent. Shannon will battle Jaylen Clark and Rob Dillingham for those minutes. A late first-round pick in 2024, the 24-year-old appeared in 32 regular season games as a rookie.

Here’s more from the Northwest Division:

A conversation with Magic Johnson early in his pro baseball career inspired Alex Rodriguez to become an NBA owner after his retirement. Rodriguez and Marc Lore were unanimously approved as majority owners of the Timberwolves last month. “When I was 21 years old, Magic sat with me. I was supposed to have 30 minutes,” Rodriguez told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears. “And that 30 minutes went to about three and a half hours and nine pages of notes. I asked him a few years later, ‘Magic why did you give me three-plus hours?’ And he said, ‘Because you came in, you were focused, you were making eye contact and you were engaged. I saw your passion. I saw you writing all those notes.’ The main thing he said is, ‘When you do your thing, your obligation is to pass it down to the next generation of us.’”
Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija is focused on playing for Israel in the upcoming EuroBasket tournament this summer, according to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net. “I am not currently thinking about the NBA. Playing for the national team of Israel is the most important honor for any player,” he said in a press conference, “Joining players I grew up with from the junior national teams is exciting. We have an amazing squad here, capable of great things. I will do everything possible to make this team successful.” Israel will face Iceland, Poland, France, Belgium, and Slovenia between Aug. 28-Sept. 4 in the preliminary round. “I am aiming for the top. I have always aimed for the top,” Avdija said.
Suns draft pick Rasheer Fleming found out during a pre-draft workout with the Trail Blazers how skilled Yang Hansen was. Portland wound up using the No. 16 pick on the Chinese big man. “They’ve been saying he’s the next Jokic,” Fleming told Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report (Substack link). “He’s so skilled. We got to see all of that in the workout. He was on my team. He threw me some dimes. He can really pass.”

Spurs, Rockets, Heat On Kevin Durant’s Wish List

June 14th, 2025 at 9:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Spurs and Rockets are Kevin Durant‘s preferred trade destinations, league sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic, who provides an overview of the status of trade talks along with Athletic writers Kelly Iko and Jon Krawczynski. Amick cautions that Durant’s desire to play in San Antonio or Houston doesn’t mean he’ll wind up in one of those cities, as there are “complicating factors” with both teams that make deals difficult.

Shams Charania of ESPN shares a similar report, but says Durant is interested in joining the Heat as well as the two Texas teams. He states that “people across the NBA” have been told that those are the three teams Durant would consider signing an extension with. He has one year left on his contract at $54.7MM.

Charania notes that once the trade is complete, Durant will become eligible on July 6 for a two-year contract extension worth up to $122MM. If he waits until six months after the trade becomes official, the extension rises to a potential $124MM over two years.

Sources tell Charania that Durant is being pursued by six to eight “seriously interested teams.” The Suns have informed those teams that they plan to make the best deal for themselves, even if Durant winds up somewhere he doesn’t want to go.

Within the Athletic’s report, Iko notes that the Spurs have a base of young talent, no current cap worries and a wealth of draft assets (13 first-round picks through 2032), putting them in position for a “timeline-altering move” to speed up the building process around Victor Wembanyama. League sources tell Iko that San Antonio remains unwilling to part with the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft, which is expected to bring Rutgers guard Dylan Harper, but the Spurs would make the 14th pick available.

Echoing a report earlier today by Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, Iko states that Phoenix has been underwhelmed by offers constructed around Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson and Harrison Barnes. Durant’s desire to join the Spurs will factor into the equation, but Iko sounds skeptical that a deal will happen unless their offers improve.

The Rockets are in a similar situation, Iko adds, as a young team that has to decide how badly it wants to disrupt its current timeline to add an aging and expensive player, even one as productive as Durant. He notes that Houston and Phoenix have been engaged in talks regarding Durant for more than a year, but the Suns’ decision to restructure their front office, with Brian Gregory taking over as general manager, have affected those negotiations.

Sources tell Iko that originally Phoenix was determined to regain control of its first-round picks that Houston owns in 2025, 2027 and 2029, and later switched to asking for multiple young players such as Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green. Team and league sources tell Iko that Jabari Smith Jr. has recently become the focus of the Suns’ pursuit. Iko hears that Green wants to stay in Houston and atone for his poor playoff performance and that the Rockets’ front office hasn’t shown much interest in breaking up its young core in pursuit of Durant.

Krawczynski discusses the challenge of bringing Durant’s contract to Minnesota, which is currently above the second apron, just like Phoenix. Wolves sources tell him that the team won’t part with Jaden McDaniels in a Durant trade, which means Julius Randle or Rudy Gobert would have to be included to help match salaries if Minnesota can regain the ability to aggregate by dropping below the second apron. Randle has a $30.9MM player option for next season that he would have to agree to pick up before being included in a deal, while Gobert is under contract for $35MM. Krawczynski notes that either player would be a solid addition alongside Devin Booker and could help the Suns get back into the playoff race.

He adds that another salary, such as Donte DiVincenzo’s $12MM, would have to be included, and Phoenix would probably want one of Minnesota’s young players thrown in, such as Rob Dillingham, Terrence Shannon or Jaylen Clark.

Wolves Rumors: Durant, Ownership, Connelly, FAs, Conley

May 30th, 2025 at 2:43pm CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves and Suns both operated above the second tax apron during the 2024/25 season, which means it would have been extremely difficult for the two teams to construct a trade that sent Kevin Durant to Minnesota at the February deadline. Still, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on the latest episode of the Hoop Collective podcast that the Wolves made a real effort to land the star forward four months ago (YouTube link; hat tip to RealGM).

“It became clear to me in talking to the parties involved just how serious the Wolves were about trying to trade for Kevin Durant at the trade deadline,” Windhorst said.

Windhorst goes on to acknowledge that the pre-deadline Wolves weren’t playing as well as they eventually performed down the stretch and in the first two rounds of the playoffs, so their level of interest in Durant may not be the same this offseason as it was at the time. And even with some money coming off their books this offseason, a deal for a player earning $54.7MM would be tricky to pull off.

Still, Windhorst notes that president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has a history of taking big swings on the trade market, making the Wolves a potential team to watch if Durant is on the trade block.

“I’m not arguing that Durant’s going to end up in Minnesota,” Windhorst said. “I’m just saying, if you look at Tim Connelly, he made the big (Rudy) Gobert trade. He made the big Julius Randle and (Donte) DiVincenzo trade. He’s shown the propensity to make big deals.”

The Timberwolves plan to be aggressive in building their roster around Anthony Edwards this offseason, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, who writes that the new ownership group led by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez has put together a “deep-pocketed group” of partners and would be comfortable continuing to pay luxury tax penalties going forward.

Here’s more on the Wolves:

The NBA’s Board of Governors is expected to vote to formally approve the Lore/Rodriguez ownership group sometime in late June, sources tell Krawczynski. The new owners plan to more aggressively invest in the business side of the franchise, Krawczynski continues, which includes making plans for a new arena.
Two team sources reiterated to The Athletic that there’s optimism about the Wolves’ ability to work out a new contract with Connelly, who has an opt-out clause in his current deal this offseason. According to Krawczynski, while Lore and Rodriguez are involved in major roster decisions, they trust Connelly to make the moves he believes are necessary. Connelly’s easy-going personality has “helped relax what could often be a nervous, downtrodden basketball operations department,” Krawczynski adds.
With Randle, Naz Reid, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker all potentially reaching free agency this summer (Randle and Reid hold player options), Krawczynski believes the likeliest outcome is that two of those three players will remain in Minnesota, with one of them departing.
Mike Conley spoke after the Wolves’ Game 5 loss on Wednesday as if he plans to return for his 19th season, but he’ll likely take on a reduced workload, so it’s crucial that the Wolves find another productive point guard, either in-house (ie. Rob Dillingham) or by bringing in a veteran, says Krawczynski. “I think my role is one that I’ve been willing to do anything,” Conley said. “Just play any amount of minutes, start, come off the bench. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do. Whatever is best for the team.”

Injury Notes: Towns, Hauser, Garland, Dillingham, Tyson

May 11th, 2025 at 7:22pm CST by Luke Adams

Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns appeared to suffer a hand or finger injury in Saturday’s Game 3 loss to Boston, but he was a full participant in practice on Sunday and isn’t listed on the injury report for Monday’s Game 4, per Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News and Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (Twitter links).

It’s positive news for the Knicks after both Towns and head coach Tom Thibodeau were cagey about the potential injury following Game 3. Towns is coming off his worst shooting game of the postseason, as he made just 5-of-18 field goal attempts on Saturday, including 1-of-5 three-pointers.

The only player on Monday’s injury report for either team is Celtics forward Sam Hauser, who has been upgraded to questionable after having been initially listed as doubtful and then downgraded to out for each of the past two games. While it remains to be seen if he’ll be active for Game 4, the new designation suggests he’s nearing a return.

“He’s getting there,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said on Sunday (Twitter video link via CLNS Media). “He’s getting better. He’s day-to-day.”

Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:

The three injured Cavaliers who returned for Game 3 – Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and De’Andre Hunter – were no longer on the injury report ahead of Game 4 on Sunday evening. Although head coach Kenny Atkinson said the trio has recovered well in the past couple days, he identified Garland as the player the Cavs are still most worried about and whose minutes will be monitored the closest (Twitter links via Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star). “He’s doing what he can do. I’ll just put it that way,” Atkinson said of the point guard. “You saw it the other night. I got him in and out. It’s something he’s grinding through. There’s been a lot of stuff that’s gone into him playing.”
The Timberwolves‘ injury report for Monday’s Game 4 is clean, the team announced today (via Twitter). Rookie guard Rob Dillingham had been the only player listed on the injury report as of late due to a sprained ankle. He was upgraded to available for Game 3 and is now off the report altogether, though he’s unlikely to play outside of garbage time.
Nuggets forward Hunter Tyson, who has only played in garbage time during the postseason, was inactive for Game 4 on Sunday due to a right ankle sprain, according to the club (Twitter link).

Wolves Notes: Edwards, Conley, Gobert, Fan Ejection, Dillingham

May 9th, 2025 at 8:08pm CST by Eli Cohen

After being upset by the Warriors at home in Game 1, Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves won Game 2 by a margin of 117-93. For the Wolves, who led the game from start to finish, the biggest scare of the night came when Edwards had to leave the game in the second quarter after re-injuring the left ankle that he had previously hurt in Game 4 of the first round.

The injury occurred when Warriors big man Trayce Jackson-Davis stepped on Edwards’ ankle after meeting him at the rim for a block. Head coach Chris Finch immediately feared the worst.

“This one, I was really planning on not seeing him the rest of the game, to be honest with you,” Finch said, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

The Wolves managed to hold off the Warriors, who were missing their own star in Stephen Curry after he left Game 1 with a Grade 1 hamstring strain, for the rest of the half while Edwards got worked on in the locker room.

“Once we got to like the third movement in my ankle, I’m like, ‘All right, it’s starting to feel good. If we tape it, I’ll see how it feels,'” Edwards said. “[Wolves VP of medical operations and performance David Hines] does a great job of making sure I’m good before I get out there, so big shoutout to David.”

Edwards was able to return to the game in the second half and lead the Wolves to their commanding victory in a game he called “the biggest game of our career.” Afterward, he told reporters he planned on being good to go for the crucial Game 3 in Golden State — he’s not listed on the injury report for Saturday’s contest.

Here’s more on the Wolves:

Mike Conley is known for his stoic floor generalship, but in Game 2 of the series against the Warriors, he made a point to set a tone, both in terms of defense and demonstrativeness. “I just wanted to really show the guys I’m going to do whatever I can for the team, sacrifice,” Conley said, per The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski. “That’s all I was focused on for the majority of the game. I know our guys kind of fed off the energy I was bringing.” The Wolves, led by Edwards and Julius Randle, are a team built on defense, trash talk, and a chip that never leaves their shoulder. With Minnesota 1-0 heading into the game, Conley focused on channeling that energy to bring out the best in the team. For at least one game, the strategy worked.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch took umbrage with the level of physicality in Game 1 of Minnesota’s second-round series with the Warriors, particularly when it came to the contact Golden State was able to inflict on star big man Rudy Gobert. Despite a relatively similar number of overall fouls called (Minnesota had 21 to Golden State’s 18), Finch wasn’t satisfied. “We sent a bunch of those clips into the league. In fact, I’m not sure I know another player in the league with Rudy’s pedigree that is allowed to be physically beaten on the way he is. And so, we’ve got to address that one way or another,” Finch said, according to McMenamin. He wasn’t the only one frustrated, as Warriors coach Steve Kerr had his own litany of complaints, especially in regards to how Curry was guarded before getting injured. If Game 2 of the series is any indication, the clips sent in didn’t have much of an impact, as the Wolves were called for 22 fouls that led to 25 Warriors free throws, while the Warriors were called for 16 fouls that led to 20 Wolves free throws.
Game 2 also saw a Minnesota fan ejected from the game, and another one leave voluntarily before they could be ejected. In a press release (via Twitter), the Timberwolves cited the fan “… Violating the NBA Fan Code of Conduct in an incident involving Draymond Green.” The second fan was alleged to have made racially charged comments at Green, though Wolves reporter Chris Hine reported (via Twitter) that the first fan may have been the one to use that language. Kerr thanked the Wolves organization for how they dealt with the unfortunate situation. “The Wolves handled that beautifully and Draymond is handling it well,” he said.
Rookie point guard Rob Dillingham has been upgraded to questionable for Game 3, per Timberwolves PR (via Twitter). Dillingham has missed the previous eight games with a right ankle sprain. The 20-year-old scoring guard was only averaging 3.8 minutes from the beginning of March onward, so he may not play even if he’s active.

Northwest Notes: Jokic, MPJ, Blazers, Timberwolves

February 26th, 2025 at 2:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Nikola Jokic continued to bolster his case for a fourth MVP award on Monday by racking up a career-high 19 assists in a road win over the Pacers.

Jokic, who grabbed nine rebounds in the victory, narrowly missed his 27th triple-double of the season, but the Nuggets star is now averaging a triple-double on the year, with 29.2 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 10.4 assists per contest. If he can maintain those averages, it would be the first time in his career that he has averaged a triple-double for a full season.

“The guy is just an amazing, complete basketball player,” head coach Michael Malone said, per ESPN. “And I think the most remarkable thing is not just 19 assists, but the satisfaction and joy that Nikola gets from making his teammates better. … He’s a humble person and understands that this whole thing is always much bigger than the individual. It’s the collective.

“But 19? … What is that? … He’s just an incredible player. And what a luxury to have when you can just play through him down the stretch of a close game and you know something good is going to happen each and every time.”

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., who missed the final three games before the All-Star break due to a minor hamstring injury, struggled upon returning last week, scoring 19 total points on 7-of-25 shooting (28.0%) in his first two games back. After contributing 19 points and 11 rebounds in Monday’s win over Indiana, Porter explained that he’s still working on getting his conditioning back to normal, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “I hadn’t ran at all for those three games I missed before the break, and then over the break, I didn’t run, so the first time I really ran was that first game back (last Thursday),” Porter said. “Now I’m just kind of getting my wind back and getting my groove back. It’s still not ‘a hundred a hundred’ percent, but it’ll be back in probably the next couple of games.”
How do the Trail Blazers stack up against the NBA’s other rebuilding teams? Sean Highkin of the Rose Garden Report (Substack link) considers that question, evaluating how the Blazers compare to Brooklyn, Utah, Charlotte, Toronto, and Washington in terms of young talent, future draft assets, and a few other variables. Although the Blazers have a solid base of young talent, they don’t have a clear-cut franchise player, their cap sheet isn’t clean as some of the others, and it’s unclear whether Chauncey Billups will be their long-term answer at head coach, Highkin writes.
The Timberwolves pulled off arguably the most impressive comeback in franchise history on Monday, rallying from a 25-point deficit to knock off the West-leading Thunder in overtime. Chris Hine of The Star Tribune has the story on the improbable, galvanizing victory, exploring how the Wolves got crucial contributions from role players like Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker and rookies Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr.

Timberwolves Notes: Dillingham, Clark, Finch, Alexander-Walker, Ingles

January 31st, 2025 at 10:01am CST by Arthur Hill

A trio of little-used players helped the Timberwolves pick up a win Thursday night at Utah, writes Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. With three members of the rotation unavailable, Rob Dillingham, Jaylen Clark and Luka Garza stepped in to fill the void. Dillingham, a lottery pick last summer, turned in one of the best games of his career with 19 points and eight assists while shooting 8-of-11 from the field.

“There was really no figuring it out,” he said of the team’s changing lineups. “We work out every day together. We get ready to play together. Them guys put in the work, even though they don’t get to show it all the time. They put in the work.”

Clark, a two-way guard who was appearing in just his sixth game, saw significant minutes off the bench for the second straight night. He was selected with the 53rd pick in the 2023 draft, but missed all of last season due to a ruptured Achilles. He won Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year honors at UCLA, and the Wolves believe he could have a future as a defensive specialist.

“He’s got a maturity that we could use,” coach Chris Finch said. “Just felt like he deserved a chance. Been thinking that way for a little while, and Wednesday [against Phoenix] was certainly an opportunity to do it.”

There’s more on the Timberwolves:

Finch received the first ejection of his coaching career on Wednesday and Anthony Edwards had to separate him from referee C.J. Washington before he left the court, Hine adds in a separate story. His players said Finch was in a confrontational mood all day after Monday’s lethargic effort against a short-handed Atlanta team. “I think he went to sleep last night with violence on his mind, and you know how you go to sleep with something on your mind and you’re hoping when you wake up — I don’t think his sleep was good enough,” Edwards said. “The way he did us in film today, particularly me, it was a tough day for us.”
Nickeil Alexander-Walker was able to play 25 minutes on Wednesday, even though he had to be helped off the court Monday after suffering a lower leg contusion. With Donte DiVincenzo already sidelined, Alexander-Walker knew he had to be ready, notes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “Everything I’ve been through in my career, playing, not playing, every time I can play I don’t want to miss that,” he said.
Joe Ingles, who signed with Minnesota as a free agent last summer, remains a popular figure in Utah, where he played the first eight seasons of his career, per Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. With Thursday’s game well out of hand, fans chanted for Ingles to be inserted, which he was for the final 3:51. The 37-year-old forward has made 10 brief appearances this season and has yet to score.

Northwest Notes: Williams, SGA, Gordon, Dillingham

January 23rd, 2025 at 8:12pm CST by Earnest Marshall

The Thunder continue to deal with major injuries, including playing chunks of the season without Isaiah Hartenstein and nearly all of it without Chet Holmgren. Part of the reason Oklahoma City is staying afloat – far above and beyond in fact – is the play of Jaylin Williams, Rylan Stiles of Thunder on SI writes.

“First off, he has become a leader. Always doing the right things, just trying to win games by any means necessary,” teammate Isaiah Joe said. “He is a very smart player. He is willing to play hard, does all the little things and wants to win at all cost no matter what it takes.”

Williams is averaging 5.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in 16 outings. He has started Oklahoma City’s past four contests with Hartenstein and Holmgren both sidelined, averaging 8.5 PPG and 6.3 RPG during that stretch.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got over the 50-point threshold for the first time in his career on Wednesday, scoring a career-high 54 points. According to Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman, Wednesday’s game was a byproduct of Gilgeous-Alexander’s mentality shifting. “I think this season I’ve taken a leap in my mental. In the past, I’ve been hyper focused on efficiency, and in moments I would — not defer, but I would be conscious of it, and I think it would like affect my decision making,” the Thunder star said. “And this year, I think I’ve got over the hump of not worrying about efficiency. Like, I’m just playing.“
Aaron Gordon fortifying the second unit might be key to the back half of the Nuggets‘ season, Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports opines (Twitter link). In each of Denver’s last four wins, superstar Nikola Jokic played fewer than 31 minutes. After returning from a nine-game absence, Gordon came off the bench in each of his past six games. According to Matt Moore of Action Network HQ (Twitter link), head coach Michael Malone said Gordon told him he’d be fine with coming off the bench for the foreseeable future if that’s what’s best for the team. Gordon is a combined plus-50 in Denver’s last five victories.
Timberwolves rookie Rob Dillingham expressed that he’s ready to take on a heavier workload, The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski writes. “I’ve always played. I never had to go through where I’m not playing, especially because of injury,” said Dillingham, who recently returned from an ankle sprain. “It was new to me. 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.” The 2024 lottery pick out of Kentucky is averaging 4.8 points in 9.7 minutes per game across 19 appearances this season.