It’s been quite a while since a preseason storyline completely hijacked the fanbase quite like the Timberwolves’ backup point guard conundrum.
Our SBNation Reacts question this week was supposed to be a simple
poll. A fun little barbershop debate. Donte DiVincenzo? Rob Dillingham? Bones Hyland? Who’s gonna matter most as the non-Mike-Conley adult in the room?
Then Chris Finch just said, “Plot twist — what if Mike Conley isn’t even the starter?” like he was Shyamalan re-writing the script at the final table read.
And now we’re two games into the season and, yeah, the point guard spot is officially a Five-Alarm Situation.
What the poll said
- Donte DiVincenzo — 51%
- Rob Dillingham — 33%
- Bones Highland — 16%
Little did we know Finch wasn’t just dipping his toe into experimentation. He cannonballed into it like a middle-schooler at a hotel pool.
Two games in, here’s where we are
- Donte looked like he was trying to disarm a bomb while blindfolded in Portland.
He even admitted it postgame. Not ideal when you are the bomb. - Mike Conley off the bench is like taking Gandalf out of the Fellowship and asking Pippin to make the maps.
Love him forever, but Luka sent him back to the Shire in 12 minutes flat. - Rob Dillingham has played a total of “does that even count?” minutes.
One DNP. One Bloody Nose Cameo. That’s the résumé so far. - Bones Hyland, out of nowhere, looks like Finch’s early trust guy.
Sometimes reckless, sometimes electric, always fearless.
He plays like a guy who doesn’t know he’s on audition, which may actually help him win it.
What’s the real takeaway?
This isn’t solved. At all.
And that’s terrifying if you’re a Wolves fan with title aspirations.
The Wolves have 80 games left, a card up their sleeve in GM in Tim Connelly, and a legitimate title window that shuts if there isn’t a capable ballhandler on the team. If they don’t figure this out internally, they will go hunting.
But for now?
We hope DiVincenzo stabilizes.
We pray Conley finds the Fountain of Youth.
We watch Bones like a stock about to either 5x or go to zero.
We wait for Dillingham to eventually… well, play basketball.
And we enter every fourth quarter holding our collective breath.
This is the ride. Buckle in.
