Timberwolves trade up with Spurs to snare Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham

The Minnesota Timberwolves made a significant splash in Wednesday's NBA draft, as they traded with the San Antonio Spurs for Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham, the No. 8 overall pick, sources confirmed.

The Wolves moved up to grab a young player who can be instant offense on a team that had trouble scoring at times in their postseason run, specifically in the Western Conference finals. To make the move, the Wolves gave up a 2031 unprotected first-round pick and a protected 2030 pick swap.

Dillingham averaged 15.2 points per game while shooting 44% from three-point range and could have a role with the Wolves right away off the bench given the Wolves need for scoring pop.

The move was a loud-throated declaration from the organization that the Wolves feel their chance to win a championship is next season and perhaps for a few years after as they sacrificed more future draft capital, albeit six and seven years away. That doesn't matter to a team that feels it is on the doorstep of winning a title.

With the second apron of the collective bargaining agreement set to put the clamps on the Wolves' ability to tinker with the roster, Connelly, who dealt the team's 2025, '27 and '29 picks to Utah for Rudy Gobert, swung for the fences with the only bit of first-round draft capital he had to deal in the '31 pick. The Wolves ability to move their 2032 pick was about to be frozen, per the rules of exceeding the second apron of the luxury tax, now the Wolves rendered that moot anyway by trading the 2031 pick, since teams can't deal first-round picks in consecutive years anyway.

Dillingham will make just under $6.3 million next season as part of the rookie-scale contract, with the total value of his contract being worth $28.6 million.

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