Rob Dillingham's season debut ends painfully in less than a minute

As season debuts go, it couldn't have been much worse for Rob Dillingham.

The second-year point guard has found himself dropping down the pecking order over the summer, and entered the season behind Donte DiVincenzo, Mike Conley, and even Bones Hyland on the depth chart in a season many Timberwolves fans were expecting him to take a huge step.

After not featuring at all in the season opening win over the Portland Trail Blazers, Dillingham's chance came in the fourth quarter Friday as the Wolves found themselves well down against the Los Angeles Lakers.

But his appearance lasted less than a minute, with the 20-year-old taking a painful elbow to the nose that prompted a swift exit.

On Saturday, The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski reported that Dillingham suffered a fractured nose in the incident. It's too early to say how this will impact his availability for Minnesota in the near future.

Didn’t expect Rob Dillingham to be completely out of Minnesota’s early season rotation. DiVincenzo starts, Conley off the bench and Bones Hyland filling in the gaps. ‘Wolves invested a lot in Dillingham two years ago.

The Wolves expended significant capital in the 2024 NBA Draft to land Dillingham, trading a 2031 unprotected first-round pick and a 2030 pick swap with the San Antonio Spurs to take him 8th overall.

He showed flashes of his talent during his rookie season but was not able to force his way into meaningful minutes despite Conley's advancing age.

Wolves fans were expecting they would see more of Dillingham this season, but there were signs over the preseason that he hadn't taken the leap some had hoped. This was confirmed ahead of the Trail Blazers game, when it was announced that DiVincenzo would take the starting PG role even though he's, well, not a point guard.