Timberwolves rookie to be sidelined for even longer

Rookie Timberwolves guard Rob Dillingham, who has already been out for his team’s last three bouts with an ankle ailment, has incurred a Grade 2 right lateral ankle sprain, Minnesota has announced in a press statement.

Per the Timberwolves, the lottery pick will be on the shelf for an additional one to two weeks. He is set to be reassessed in one week.

Minnesota traded to acquire the draft rights to the 6-foot-1 guard, the No. 8 pick out of Kentucky, this summer.

Through 15 games with the Timberwolves, he has played relatively sparingly. The 20-year-old is averaging 8.5 minutes a night across 15 contests. In that time, he’s scoring 3.7 points on 45.1% shooting from the field and 42.9% shooting from long range. He’s also chipping in 1.7 assists a night.

At 17-16, Minnesota is currently the Western Conference’s No. 8 seed. Losing a deep-bench player Dillingham may not impact the Timberwolves severely in the short term, but he still has exciting upside.