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Minnesota Timberwolves vs. New Orleans Pelicans
Date: July 9th, 2026
Time: 2:30 PM CDT
Location: Cox Pavilion
Television Coverage: Prime Video
The Minnesota Timberwolves kick off their Las Vegas Summer League slate today against the New Orleans Pelicans, which means we have officially reached that strange portion of the NBA calendar where every fan base convinces itself that a 22-year-old who scores 18 points against a group of future EuroLeague rotation players may have just solved the franchise’s biggest problem.
Summer League is ridiculous that way, and yet it always matters just enough to keep us watching. Last year, Wolves fans entered Vegas with their eyes locked on the young trio of Terrence Shannon Jr., Jaylen Clark, and Rob Dillingham. After back-to-back trips to the Western Conference Finals, Minnesota needed cheap internal development in the worst way. The roster was expensive and the expectations were real. The Wolves needed those young guys to show they could become actual NBA contributors, not just theoretical rotation pieces fans talked themselves into during July.
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Shannon did his part, at least in the desert. He put together some of the most dominant performances of the entire summer, attacking the rim with the kind of force that made Wolves fans immediately start penciling him into the rotation like he was the answer to the NAW departure. Unfortunately, that Summer League dominance never fully translated into the major year-two leap many hoped for, with injuries slowing him down and preventing him from carving out the consistent role that seemed possible after his Vegas breakout.
Dillingham’s arc was even more complicated. He entered last summer as the presumed heir apparent to Mike Conley Jr., or at least the young player Minnesota desperately needed to become a viable answer at point guard. The roster had a glaring hole there, and Dillingham’s skill set made him the obvious player fans wanted to dream on. But after a shaky Summer League and an uneven start to his NBA career, his biggest contribution to the Timberwolves ultimately came as the trade chip Tim Connelly used to acquire Ayo…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/summer-league-preview-timberwolves-vs-160000421.html
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Publish date : 2026-07-09 16:00:00
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