Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. Introductory Press Conference

Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. Introductory Press Conference

e e e e e e e e e e e good afternoon everyone I’m Alan Horton the radio play-by-play voice of the Minnesota Timberwolves welcome to those of you in attendance here at Target Center and those of you watching on timberwolves.com today we’re excited to welcome the newest additions to the Twin Cities and to the timber wols family last week the Timberwolves added to their talented core by acquiring Rob Dillingham the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft and drafting guard Terren Shannon Jr with the 27th over overall selection Rob averaged 15 points four assists and three rebounds in his freshman season at Kentucky and his 48% shooting and 44% from Deep helped him earn all the Sixth Man of the Year in the SEC Rob Not only was named to the allconference freshman team but also named second Team all SEC and his 44% mark from three ranked fourth best in the conference among players who averaged two or more made threes per game TJ joins the Timberwolves after spending the last two seasons at the University of Illinois he finished up an impressive spring he was third in the country in scoring averaging 23 points a game to go along with four rebounds and two assists on 48% shooting he was named an AP All-American third team selection and after leading the Ali to the Elite 8 for the first time since 2005 he was named to the NCA tournament all east region team TJ is also no stranger to the building he was named the 2024 Big 10 tournament’s most outstanding player which was held right here at Target Center just a few months ago we’ll tip off today’s press conference with some questions from our local media members a reminder please wait until you’re called upon then identify yourself with your name and your affiliation before asking your question and for those watching on Zoom or participating on Zoom uh please use the raise your hand icon if you’d like to ask a question let’s get things started Chris Chris hin from the Star Tribune uh Rob what was your reaction when you saw the timber roles were moving up in the draft and and kind of what what have your conversations been like with Coach VCH and and Tim on your fit here uh it was just a crazy experience for real to even think cuz Timber was was one of the best teams in the NBA so I wouldn’t think I’d go to a contender right off rip so me seeing that I’m going to Timber was it was just a blessing for real and I was just happy that I got to learn from so many vets that’s on the team and so many players that’s done it and talking the coach like he just made me feel comfortable and he told me that I’m going to have a role as long as I have responsibility and I do what I’m supposed to do so I feel like it’s a two-way streak and as long as I keep it the right way then it’s going to go good playing with Anthony Edwards Mike Conley and some of the some of the guys that you know are at the guard position on this team oh I feel great cuz Anthony Edwards he has all the confidence in the world and I feel like that just helps you grow as a player and then it’s Mike connley Mike Conley’s been one of the best guards in the league forever and at one time he was the most paid guard in the league so uh Mike Conley to learn from is just a blessing to learn and I feel like it’s just a perfect fit Terrence for you it was a a very trying year for you what what did it mean to get that call on draft night after the year that you’ve been through um I was just I was just grateful um bless blessed for them to take the chance on me and to come to Minnesota uh knowing I played here before in the Target Center um I was just happy and grateful and blessed uh for the opportunity and I was just happy and excited uh Brit Robson from men post we heard from Tim on draft night but Chris we haven’t heard from you about uh your impressions of these two draft picks yeah I think um all credit to Tim and his team amazing job to watch them n navigate the draft and be aggressive um you know in a draft where we had we found great opportunity and great talent um and on the back of that we were very very excited to welcome in Rob and TJ uh both players bring a dimension that we um really could use uh explosive love to play in the open court live in the paint um you know a scoring mindset and uh we feel like as we kind of looked at where we may have fallen a little short last season um we were able to address a lot of those needs uh in in the draft and um you know just excited to get them on board and you know watch their Journey begin Reggie Wilson with Carol 11 uh Terrence no draft piic likes to over here no draft pick usually likes to wait as long as you had to wait to hear your name call but how fortunate do you feel that you landed in this situation um I’m very fortunate um I’m coming to a win in team um and real experienced and I’m looking to help them win a championship um just just coming in and impacting whatever way I can um but I me I’m just grateful um like I said before um I’m happy to be here and just ready to get to work Mike Max WCCO Co coach Finch um when you get two guys like this that have talent and now you’ve got a a team that’s achieved like they have what’s more difficult to to integrate them with the team that that is of veterans now and and they’re they have high expectations and they want minimum turnovers is that the toughest part when you have two talented players like this that you’re bringing in well I think the best opportunities to develop young Talent is to develop them into a specific roles and those roles are usually well defined by teams that are ready to win and are winning um and you know what you need and you can kind of go in there and first and foremost try to try to excel in that role um you know it’s great to have young players playing a lot of minutes giving him lot of opportunities um but at sometimes you know uh you kind of they can maybe bite off a little more than they can chew so I think in our situation with the opportunities that we have um they’re certainly there for them there’s roles to be had uh roles to be earned um but we also know what they look like and how specific those are and that’s the that’s where we’re going to start and go in there and you can if you can nail that and then we try you know grow everyone’s game from there so uh Travis Singleton sneaker reporter.com just wanted to talk to both you guys what do you expect to actually see in this first year and also what can Minnesota fans expect from you guys on the court both of you uh I would say just to expect the same thing as last year we Minnesota timberos is already team before we got here so whatever we can do to make them better even if it’s the little things well it’s going to be the little things that’s what we’re going to do so we’re not focused on everything that’s around us I feel like we just going to make the best of what we got and whatever coach wants us to do we going to make sure it happen and if it don’t then we’re not going to be on the floor yeah um just just being ourself um not doing too much um just doing what we’re asked and like he said our our role will expand but just doing what we’re asked um from the start from the jump and expect on winning the championship and that’s what we came here to do um they fell a little short um this year but it’s always next year and that’s what we plan on doing Ahad Hicks fox9 two-part question for both of you guys uh who was some of the veterans that reached out to you and what was one of the more memorable uh moments from that exchange you guys had uh Mike conle had hit me that’s obviously a big thing cuz that’s the point guard he’s a legendary point guard so he was just telling me it was a great fit and a great spot for me to learn and that just shows me learning from him that’s like a big thing for me so Mike Rudy uh Jay McDaniels C all of them just hit us just saying like it’s going to be a good situation as long as we willing to work it’s going to happen yeah um I’m just just crazy hearing uh for some of the guys uh just watching them on TV um and it becoming to reality being their teammates um but man it was just a good feeling um having those guys congratulate you and welcome you to the team Terence um obviously you went through a lot on and off the court last season what did you learn about yourself that maybe you didn’t know prior to that um I would say the how good of a leader that I can be um it made me a better leader and I just uh gravitated towards my team and coaches more um family and but it made me it made me a better leader and I realized how how good of a leader I can be gentlemen I’m on your right Chris Long from ksdp television welcome who were who are or were uh your the guys you loved watching play in the league who’s maybe your favorite player and has it hit you yet that here in just a few weeks you’re going to be playing alongside whoever that person is or against I should say uh yeah for sure um I mean I like all the players in the league so I can’t really say a certain player right now because we going to really be playing against him but of all time IID probably say like Kobe Steve Nash players like that those are my favorite players oh yeah man uh it’s it’s a lot of players that that’s exciting um including anunt um one of the probably the one probably the best two-way player in the NBA um and just somebody like when me me playing the position that I am that’s that’s what I would want to be like being considered one of the best two-way players in the NBA so it was really fun watching ant this year um and and what he did uh for the timber WS we’ll take a question via Zoom go ahead hey guys uh John krinski from the athletic question for both par and Rob first um just what was it like the last day or so walking around Target Center walking around the the practice facility and maybe after the craziness of draft week kind of realizing that hey your your dream is finally here and you’re starting starting your journey in the NBA uh I would say it’s just it don’t even feel real honestly I feel like it won’t feel real until we start actually playing with the guys and doing everything with the guys every day but it don’t feel real walking through and so I I even know what to say about that it’s hard to explain but once we start hooping it would definitely feel real yeah um just taking everything in day by day um like Rob said uh it’s it’s still a shocking um feeling and still just taking it all in um and getting used to everything Rob Rob Pat ricey from the Minneapolis paper uh you’re coming from Kentucky the fans here can’t be any tougher on you than they are in Kentucky they like the win down there how did you handle that and what happened to Cal how what happened to him uh I mean we handled it well cuz we started off winning when you winning they they they with you so uh even when we started losing I felt like they was kind of with us cuz I was trying we were doing all we could to compete so uh I feel like with any fans you going to have highs and lows but it’s about winning so if you’re not winning it’s your fault honestly but it is the fans right to be mad at you so but um I I say I’m just going to take it by just taking every day the same way and going about it every day and I don’t know about what happened to coach I don’t know any other questions hey Chris uh John here one more time um just in terms of both the Player Development staff that you have and then the veterans in the locker room like what do you think of the environment you guys are going to provide for two young guys to come in and not just develop but hopefully be relied upon to play uh early on in in this season well you know as we know we have great confidence in our in our staff um I think they’ve done an amazing job of developing our young core um that’s on display every single night we take the floor um you know I think uh we we have the right amount of energy in the building every single day when guys come in it’s a great place to learn um um and that’s aided by incredible vets not just about what they can teach the players on the floor but it’s also as as much uh and we talked about this today with with Rob and TJ that you know learning how to be a pro um from how you prepare how you schedule your routine how you eat how you sleep uh how you get your mind right to play or to not play and handle all the successes and failures that come in between those things so um you know we feel really confident in our staff you know we have a unbelievably talented staff all the way through uh and the Player Development uh section of our staff is probably um you know one of one of our greatest success stories what we’ve been able to do with our young players so we’re excited to get these guys in the fold um and see what they can do Chris uh how do you envision just like the competition for these kind of rotation spots that are opening up for you playing out with some of with these guys and some of the guys that you’ve had in the system now for for a few years yeah there’s definitely going to be opportunities there for sure um you know we we’ve talked about this throughout the season uh often times when um you know you when you have a roster that’s constructed like ours with cat at the four and then moving to the five as you’re backup it kind of May cap you a little bit in some of the things you’re able to do but one thing we keep doing is keep adding players that super versatile gives us multiple lineup uh combinations ultimate flexibility and subbing for each other um you know we got some holes right away um that that need to be plugged and there’s no doubt that you’re going to have to be filled by Young Players whether it be these two guys or guys that have already been in the system and in the gym so for me that’s you know that’s what we need to do um and we’re excited about that challenge and we’re looking forward to these guys stepping up to it uh Chris you mentioned specific roles is one of the the advantages uh you know clearly defined needs how will you approach that in summer league can you get up and ramp that up that quickly and will it be like Rob learning more about the point guard uh I mean what specifically are you looking to develop here yeah I think you know with Summer League you got to be careful um it’s you know it’s a great great opportunity for young guys to go out there and play it’s probably some of the hardest playing basketball you’ll ever see anywhere in the world um but um you know most important is that learn learn the basics of our system compete with everything they have be you know get integrated into the team and the culture um you know it’s it’s a little hard to replicate you know playing alongside a Rudy or an ant or a cat um so we we try to deemphasize a little bit of that and we want these guys to be the best version of themselves so um try to create a a system where that that that kind of Rises to the top questions for Tim Tim how do you en Vision or what are you looking for as free agency kind of plays out here towards towards the end of the process and and is there any kind of talk with Rudy’s camp on an extension with him yeah we’re just looking for to continue to add versatile um pieces certainly we’ve had a lot of success so not just types of players types of people selfmotivated I think finy touched on it we talked to Robert and TJ about it a bunch you know we can’t control wins and losses that we control the environment which we create for these guys so um we’re very very respectful of of how delicate that locker room balance is so um more so than even specific skill sets I think it’s the person um you know we love Rudy be here for a really long time we really we’re still um in the middle of free agency we haven’t really jumped in deeper beyond that but obviously we’re not here without Rudy we’re not in the West Conference Finals without Rudy and we hope this is Rudy’s last stop all right thank you for all the questions we’ll now have have a photo op up here on this uh the podium with um with everybody with Tim and Chris and TJ and Rob

Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly and Head Coach Chris Finch will join 2024 Draft picks Rob Dillingham and Terrence Shannon Jr. for an introductory press conference with Timberwolves Radio play-by-play announcer Alan Horton as moderator.