Say it without saying it.
That’s what new Bull Rob Dillingham has been pulling off the last few days since arriving in a trade, maneuvering through his explanation of what went wrong with his Timberwolves experience with the same slipperiness that he darts through an opposing defensive set.
A source indicated that Dillingham and Minnesota coach Chris Finch quickly fell off the same page after the guard was selected No. 8 overall in the 2024 draft, but while Dillingham is only 21, he wasn’t going to get caught up in a he said-he said NBA drama.
What was obvious, however, was he arrived with the Bulls somewhat stripped of his confidence. He didn’t hide that.
“Just confidence,” Dillingham responded, when asked what he needed to do to take the next step in his NBA journey. “Confidence from my teammates, confidence from my coaches. I just feel like I haven’t gotten a super opportunity where I feel confident. Just gaining that back and realizing I’ve been working the whole time so it’s not like it automatically left where I wasn’t as good. I’m just waiting for the spark to come back.”
The first flicker came on Saturday.
Dillingham not only played a season-high 22 minutes in his Bulls debut but scored nine points and facilitated two nasty lob dunks – which is an art form previous Bulls point guards rarely displayed.
More importantly, his speed and shiftiness were on full display, which is also an element that’s been missing from Donovan’s offense for years.
Ayo Dosunmu was fast but more straight-line speed. Coby White used his strong frame to drive to the rim. Josh Giddey has positional size. Even Lonzo Ball wasn’t considered a shifty point guard.
Dillingham not only has quickness, but a wiggle to him. That’s what Donovan has to bring out and elevate.
“At times we’ve struggled to get downhill,” Donovan said. “He’s the one guy when the ball is in his hand that can really break people down, play off the dribble, and put some pressure on the basket.”
With all that said, Donovan also wants to get to the bottom of what went wrong between guard and former team.
A talk is coming and hopefully some honesty with it.
“Minnesota has been trying to find another guard to take another step,” Donovan said. “They’ve been to the Western Conference Finals, so I’m looking forward to talking to him, like, ‘Why weren’t you playing because they were looking for somebody?’ This is an area of growth for him where he’s on a team that is trying to win, going for it right now, and they’re looking for some help.
“This is my whole point with young players. They’ve got to be able to understand things that go into winning. And I’m not saying that Rob does or does not. Maybe they didn’t like the way the team was structured, and he wasn’t the right fit, I don’t know what it was. But all these guys, these draft picks, they’ve got to impact winning at some point and move past just the talent. It’s more of how do you impact winning?”
The good news for both Donovan and Dillingham is they at least have time to figure that out.
Of the four new guards acquired, both Collin Sexton and Anfernee Simons are unrestricted free agents, and Jaden Ivey is restricted. Dillingham is only in Year 2 of his rookie contract. That means he’ll get an opportunity he wasn’t getting with Minnesota and do so in a more up-tempo offense.
That’s all he can ask for.
“Opportunity is really however many minutes I get,” Dillingham said. “Whether I get five, 10, 15, 20, just trying to play and do the most with my opportunity.
“Coach said he feels like it’s a better offense I can run and will be helpful for me. I just want to fit in.”