Game Story
Despite missing Terrance Shannon Jr. to rest, the Minnesota Timberwolves
were able to eek out a win in the final regular season game of the Las Vegas Summer League. This leaves them at 4-0 and in the hunt to return to the Summer League pseudo-playoffs. They have made the championship game twice, in 2016 and 2019. Could this year be the year they finally win the franchise’s first title?Obviously, without Shannon Jr., even winning this game was a tall task from the get go. TSJ has been the Wolves best
player in Summer League, leading fans in Minnesota and all over the internet to believe that a second year leap is around the corner.
Seemingly signifying this, Minnesota prevented the 25 year old from playing a back-to-back after yesterday’s win against the Detroit Pistons.
Cue the music.
Rob Dillingham with 23, 7 and 7 and a +17 even when the 3 wasn’t falling is encouraging.
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) July 17, 2025
As so many had wished, tonight was a Rob Dillingham show-out performance. After an up-and-down start saw Rob start his Vegas experience with a seven turnover performance, he had been excelling in a high impact but lower-scoring role, often setting the table for Shannon or rookie first round pick Joan Beringer.
While his 9 of 20 shooting line may scare off box score watchers, Dillingham’s fourth quarter was immense and led a comeback against a Phoenix Suns team that boasted an impressive core of rookies in Khaman Maluach, Koby Brea, and Rasheer Fleming, alongside second-year bigs Ryan Dunn and Oso Ighodaro. While Brea missed this game, the other four were not enough for the Suns.
YOU KNOW HOW HE MOVES pic.twitter.com/ebhpkUyKNv
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) July 16, 2025
The other story of this game for Minnesota was Leonard Miller. It has been a tumultuous few years for the former second round pick since he was called the steal of the draft. He has such undeniable talent, as can be seen in his 20-point double-double tonight, but questions about effort remain.
Miller’s spot as a backup big in a developmental role has quickly evaporated after the Wolves drafted two centers that assumedly take a higher internal priority going forward, but a good Summer League showing, like the one Lenny just had, should set him up to at least have a chance. However, with Josh Minott and Luka Garza having recently departed the same bubble he is now sitting on, it’s hard not to be a little pessimistic.
Still, the Wolves will now wait in anticipation of the night’s slate to see if they will play for the Summer League title. The Toronto Raptors, San Antonio Spurs, and Oklahoma City Thunder are all 3-0 with higher point differentials that Minnesota. If any of them win, it’s game over.
Behind them sits the Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, and Charlotte Hornets, all of whom would need to win by pretty large margins to pass the Wolves in point differential.
All that is to say, it’s a long shot but not impossible.
Even if they are sent home, however, this Vegas experience has given us many a topic to discuss, from small scale gripes about two-ways, to full on hot takes that show how badly we need the season to come back, so let’s get to it.
Rob Dillingham and the Glimpse of a Guard
A huge issue that the 2024 Timberwolves had was the lack of dynamic options off of the gravity created by Julius Randle and, more importantly, Anthony Edwards. Especially during a conference finals series that say Edwards contained and curtailed, Rob’s next step continues to be the biggest and most glaring X-factor.
The Wolves traded the equivalent of two future first round picks to get the diminutive guard out of Kentucky, only to barely play him as a rookie. While there were glimpses of a (say it with me) shifty point guard with decent passing chops, all too often, Dillingham’s rhythm failed to find a tempo and he was stuck glued to the bench.
Now, however, the stage is set. Mike Conley is one year older. The band aid option of Nickeil Alexander-Walker has departed for Atlanta. Donte DiVincenzo is certainly not an on-ball option.
This roster’s next step depend on Rob. His failure would leave the Wolves without any more lottery tickets in the form of youth to raise the ceiling of the Anthony Edwards era. His arrival to the territory of even starting caliber would allow the internal puzzle of roster construction to slide into place.
Surviving Rudy
For the first time since the trade of Karl-Anthony Towns, the Wolves roster features a playable center behind Rudy Gobert.
I know. It feels like it should be a low bar, but while the Wolves spent most of their non Gobert minutes last year in their double-four lineups featuring Naz Reid and Julius Randle, a large part of that was the complete lack of big man flexibility. Jesse Edwards was not getting it done.
Now, with Joan Beringer, the Wolves can slow roll Rudy’s minutes. For the first time in ages, they can survive a front court injury.
With what fans have seen from second round pick and the second most beloved Australian on the roster, it should also start to set in that the Wolves have started to prepare for aa future without the Stifle Tower. Considering his age, the timing makes sense and sets up Beringer to play a real role early and often.
Up Next
As mentioned earlier, Minnesota awaits their fate. If they do end up in the top four, they will play a fifth an final game against another opponent this Friday or Saturday.
