Wolves make draft-night trade with Spurs for No. 8 pick Rob Dillingham

Kentucky guard averaged 15.2 points per game last season.

Rob Dillingham shakes hands with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver after being selected in the first round by the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA draft at Barclays Center in New York on June 26, 2024. / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Tim Connelly made another splash Wednesday night.

The Timberwolves' president of basketball operations executed a trade with the San Antonio Spurs for Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham, whom the Spurs selected with the No. 8 overall pick in the NBA draft. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Wolves are trading an unprotected first-round pick in 2031 as well as a protected 2030 pick swap, so Minnesota held on to its No. 27 overall selection.

The Wolves also keep the No. 37 pick in the second round of the draft, which takes place Thursday.

The Timberwolves are trading a 2031 unprotected first and a protected 2030 pick swap to the Spurs for Dillingham, source tells ESPN. https://t.co/jTMUQlhsrh

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 27, 2024

With the No. 27 pick, the Wolves selected Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr.

Dillingham, 19, played 32 games as a freshman last season for the Wildcats, averaging 15.2 points, 3.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game. Dillingham appeared in 32 games, making one start, and was named All-Southeastern Conference Second Team by both coaches and the media.

Dillingham was also the SEC Sixth Man of the Year.

At 15.2 points per game, Dillingham was Kentucky's second-leading scorer while shooting 48% from the field and 44% from 3-point range. He's touted as one of the best shooter's in this year's draft — he's an effective 3-point shooter and scorer that the Timberwolves need on the roster.

Dillingham is also likely viewed as the successor at the point guard position to Mike Conley, who will turn 37 this fall. There's no better mentor for the young guard than Conley, who's played over 1,100 career games and still has two years remaining on his contract.

It seems likely the Timberwolves see Dillingham working his way into the backup point guard spot, where he could provide a scoring punch off the bench.

Dillingham was the top-ranked point guard in the 2023 recruiting class. He grew up in Hickory, N.C., and initially played a Combine Academy, where he was the Charlotte Observer Player of the Year as a sophomore after averaging 21.2 points, 4.9 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game.

Dillingham then transferred and played at Kanye West's Donda Academy for his junior season before transferring again to Overtime Elite in Atlanta for his senior season. He was a five-star prospect.

The Atlanta Hawks selected French forward Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 overall pick, making it two years in a row a French player was selected No. 1 overall after Victor Wembaynama was selected with the top pick by the Spurs in last year's draft. French center Alex Sarr was selected No. 2 overall by the Washington Wizards Wednesday night to make it a 1-2 sweep for France in 2024.

2024 NBA draft

1. Atlanta Hawks: Zaccharie Risacher (JL Bourge-en-Bresse, France)
2. Washington Wizards: Alex Sarr (Perth, France)
3. Houston Rockets: Reed Sheppard (Kentucky)
4. San Antonio Spurs: Stephon Castle (Connecticut)
5. Detroit Pistons: Ron Holland II (G League Ignite)
6. Charlotte Hornets: Tidjane Salaun (Cholet Basket, France)
7. Portland Trail Blazers: Donovan Clingan (Connecticut)
8. Spurs: Rob Dillingham (Kentucky) — traded to Minnesota Timberwolves
9. Memphis Grizzlies: Zach Edey (Purdue)
10. Utah Jazz: Cody Williams (Colorado)
11. Chicago Bulls: Matas Buzelis (G League Ignite)
12. Oklahoma City Thunder: Nikola Topic (KK Crvena Zvezda, Serbia)
13. Sacramento Kings: Devin Carter (Providence)
14. Trail Blazers: Bub Carrington (Pittsburgh) — traded to Wizards
15. Miami Heat: Kel'el Ware (Indiana)
16. Philadelphia 76ers: Jared McCain (Duke)
17. Los Angeles Lakers: Dalton Knect (Tennessee)
18. Orlando Magic: Tristan da Silva (Colorado)
19. Toronto Raptors: Ja'Kobe Walter (Baylor)
20. Cleveland Cavaliers: Jaylon Tyson (Cal)
21. New Orleans Pelicans: Yves Missi (Baylor)
22. Phoenix Suns: DaRon Holmes II (Dayton) — traded to Denver Nuggets
23. Milwaukee Bucks: AJ Johnson (Illawarra)
24. New York Knicks: Kyshawn George (Miami) — traded to Wizards
25. Knicks: Pacome Dadiet (Ratiopharm Ulm, France)
26. Wizards: Dillon Jones (Weber State) — traded to Knicks, then Thunder
27. Timberwolves: Terrence Shannon Jr. (Illinois)
28. Nuggets: Ryan Dunn (Virginia) — traded to Suns
29. Jazz: Isaiah Collier (Southern California)
30. Boston Celtics: Baylor Scheierman (Creighton)