Timberwolves preaching patience with rookie guard Rob Dillingham

Rudy Gobert remembers spending time in the G League during his rookie season in 2013-14.

Well, back then it was called the D League.

“My ego was hurt, but it felt good to go out there and just play,” Gobert said. “… And also took that frustration and that hunger to be on the floor and to help the team, put that into working harder than anybody else.”

That’s been Gobert’s message to Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Rob Dillingham, who hasn’t spent any time in the G League aside from a two-game stint on a rehab assignment but also hasn’t seen many minutes for the Timberwolves to this point in his young NBA career. That’s not for lack of desire as Dillingham has been itching for more time on the court.

“We have a lot of conversations about that. I tell him it’s a good sign that he’s frustrated,” Gobert said. “If you don’t care, you’re not ambitious enough. So I love that, and the only thing I tell him is to keep doing the work. When you’re frustrated, put that frustration into working more, working harder, learning, taking care of yourself, getting stronger.”

Dillingham has played just 17 games this season, averaging 9.4 minutes per game. Some of that absence has been due to injury — he missed time with a right ankle sprain — but there have also been games where there simply hasn’t been room for him. It’s not because the Wolves have changed their tune on him since moving up to get him No. 8 overall in this year’s NBA draft, it’s because finding minutes for a rookie can be challenging on a team that already boasts a lot of guard depth.

“It’s important to kind of set it all in context. It’s hard for rookies to play meaningful minutes for teams that are trying to win at the top of the table. It just is,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “You have to wait, be patient, like (Dillingham) is gonna be an extremely good player in this league for a long time to come. We’re all confident of that, and he just has to keep staying ready, and obviously the ankle injury kind of derailed any little momentum we had, but he played extremely well.

“And just yeah, gotta have patience. I think it’s important to realize, these guys, sometimes it’s the first time in their life they’ve never played. It’s mentally really challenging for those guys. Have to see light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s a long season and all the cliches, but they all are true.”

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The good news is Dillingham has found more opportunities for minutes since returning from injury (of course, the bad news is they’ve come because Donte DiVincenzo has been sidelined the last two games with a toe injury). Regardless of the circumstance, Dillingham is making the most of his opportunity. After all, nothing is guaranteed for the rookie.

On Friday, Dillingham had nine points and three assists in 13 minutes in a win over the New York Knicks, and on Saturday, he had 12 points and two assists in 18 minutes of action in a loss to the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers.

On Saturday, Finch elected to play Dillingham with the starters down the stretch in the fourth quarter, hoping his speed could help spark a run facing a 20-point deficit. Despite struggling to shoot during his first stint in the first half, Dillingham came alive in the fourth quarter and helped the Wolves close the gap to as few as five points with 12 seconds remaining.

The game was a learning experience for Dillingham. For one, he was often switched defensively onto the likes of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, a crash course in trying to stick with the NBA’s best guards as an undersized player.

“I feel like before it was like alright, when I get a switch, I got to get off of him. Now it’s like, I just got to guard. So that’s how I look at it and I try to take on everyone, and even if I get a foul, you got to foul them (rather) than let them score,” he said.

It also came against his friend in Garland, who, at 6-foot-1, 192 pounds, could perhaps provide a blueprint for the 6-foot-3, 175-pound Dillingham as a player who’s shown what it takes to thrive as an undersized guard in the league.

“He definitely has a lot of things I could take after. Learning to draw fouls, getting all his players involved, also scoring the ball, so definitely can learn a bunch from him,” Dillingham said of Garland.

Minutes won’t be guaranteed for Dillingham. There will likely be more games this season where he doesn’t see minutes once DiVincenzo returns. But he’s still just a 20-year-old rookie. The key will be patience, maintaining the drive to improve that he already possesses, and just like Gobert said, turning that frustration of sparing minutes into something positive.

If it hasn’t already, Dillingham’s time will come. The Timberwolves have no doubts about that.