BBNBA: Vanderbilt's return, Edwards' extra minutes, and letting Dillingham cook

We’re inching closer and closer to the NBA’s annual midseason break. The 2025 All-Star Weekend runs from Feb. 14-16 as all 30 teams take a six-day break from games. We’ll hit the trade deadline a little bit before then on Feb. 6 where a handful of former Kentucky Wildcats could find themselves in new cities when all is said and done.

But we’re still a couple of weeks away from the fun. This mid-week BBNBA update will have to suffice for now. There’s certainly plenty of topics to cover though. Let’s dive on in.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a lock to start the All-Star Game

When the NBA announces the Eastern and Western Conference starters for the 2025 All-Star Game on Thursday, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is almost assuredly going to be included in that group for the second year in a row. The former Wildcat is the leading vote-getter among Western Conference guards with a little over 2.4 million votes — roughly 600,000 more votes than Steph Curry in second-place.

None of this is surprising though. Gilgeous-Alexander is once again having an MVP-caliber season and might just win the award by the end of the season at this rate — the first-ever Kentucky alum to do so if he can pull it off. The 6-foot-6 point guard has the Oklahoma City Thunder sitting on a Western Conference-leading record of 35-7 with per-game averages of 31.5 points, 6.1 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 2.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks on shooting splits of 53.2/35/90.

After finishing fifth in MVP voting in 2022-23 and second in 2023-24, this season’s is SGA’s to lose at this point.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has played the fewest minutes per game among the Top 15 scorers in the NBA..

..and ranks #1 in the league in scoring.

SGA has sat 10 4th quarters. https://t.co/AHPPRJSWoN

— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) January 22, 2025

Bam Adebayo’s struggles continue

What’s the deal with Bam Adebayo? The three-time All-Star has looked anything but that this season for the Miami Heat. His 15.6 points per game are the lowest since his second season in 2018-19. He’s under 50 percent form the floor (45.5 percent) for the first time in his career. Just this week he’s produced a six-point game and a 12-point game. Through 42 games, Adebayo, who is still only 27 years old, has just six games of 20 or more points. He’s taking more three-pointers this season (2.5 per game) than ever (0.4 per game for his career).

Tyler Herro‘s best season yet as a pro has helped distract us from Adebayo’s poor campaign, but the Heat need him at his best. That’s especially true right now as the franchise sits on a 21-21 record and attempts to wade through Jimmy Butler’s trade request. Miami signed Adebayo to a $160 million contract extension in the summer that has him on the books through the 2028-29 season, which is a player option. Something has to change with his on-court performance to make that contract worth it.

Welcome back, Vando

It’s been nearly a full year since Jarred Vanderbilt saw the hardwood. The Los Angeles Lakers’ versatile forward last played on Feb. 1, 2024. During that game, he suffered a right midfoot sprain (foot problems were the same issues that plagued him while at Kentucky) and has been in recovery every since. But according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Vanderbilt has been midcally cleared to make his debut this Saturday against the Golden State Warriors (8:30 p.m. EST on ABC).

When healthy, Vando has been a valuable piece to the Lakers rotation. He averaged 5.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game last season as a do-it-all (expect shoot) type of forward before going down with the injury. The Lakers sure could use him too as the depth pieces haven’t done much as of late. Los Angeles is currently 23-18, good enough for sixth in the West.

Justin Edwards making the most of extra minutes

How about Justin Edwards, eh? Would you have guessed that he’s averaging more points per game this season than any of his fellow Kentucky rookies, which includes a pair of Top 10 draft picks? Edwards is averaging 6.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in 19.2 minutes per game this season (13 games played) for the Philadelphia 76ers, who honestly have no other choice but to feed someone like Edwards extra minutes. Injuries have decimated this squad since the season began and that continues to be an issue halfway through the season.

But to his credit, Edwards is making the most of the opportunity. The 6-foot-7 wing has been eating up plenty of playing time. Over his last six contests (all losses for Philly, by the way) he’s averaged 10.7 points and 3.5 rebounds in 29.6 minutes per outing while shooting 49 percent from the field and 36.7 percent from deep. A 25-point game on Jan. 14 was the highlight of his season thus far. He finished with 11 points and three rebounds in a 35-point loss to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.

Philadelphia isn’t winning many ball games right, but young pieces like Edwards are being given a chance to show what they’ve got. The same can’t be said for another Kentucky rookie though…

Let Rob Dillingham loose

Life for the Minnesota Timberwolves isn’t going as planned whenever the franchise essentially swapped Karl-Anthony Towns (having his best season yet) for Julius Randle (having an up-and-down season) with the New York Knicks. Minny is just 22-21 on the season, has dropped four of its last six games, and simply doesn’t look as good as last year’s team that won 56 games. The one thing the 2023-24 Timberwolves were missing was an extra ball handler. They addressed that by adding Rob Dillingham with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. And yet, head coach Chris Finch has mostly refused to play the showstopping shotmaker.

Dillingham has appeared in just 18 games this season, averaging 5.1 points in 9.8 minutes per game. He saw the floor sporadically early into the season, but was cut entirely from the rotation starting in late December until that began to change last week. Over the last three games, Minnesota has finally given Dillingham some run due to an injury ahead of him. He’s played 16.2 minutes per contest during that time with per-game averages of 12 points and 2.3 assists on 62.5 percent shooting. He’s gone 6-10 from deep, as well, with just three total turnovers.

It’s time to let Rob cook.

Cant tell me this guy doesn’t deserve 20 Minutes a night man pic.twitter.com/kjz3oHIz45

— Dillingham Muse (@RobDillMuse) January 21, 2025

Nick Richards up and down in Phoenix

Nick Richards has played just two games with the Phoenix Suns since he was traded there from the Charlotte Hornets. His debut was excellent. Game two? Not so much.

The seven-footer dropped 21 points and 11 rebounds in his first-ever game with the Suns, a tidy 125-121 win over the surprisingly good Detroit Pistons. But the next time out on Monday night was a completely different story. Going up against the league-leading Cleveland Cavaliers and its two lengthy centers in Evan Mobely and Jarrett Allen, Richards struggled. He finished with just four points (2-4), four rebounds, two blocks, and five fouls in 22 minutes.

Life hasn’t been easy for Devin Booker and the Suns this season. Adding Richards was a move made to help boost the frontcourt. But it was always a longshot that he would boost that position enough to make a true difference. Pheonix is currently 21-21 and in 10th place (the final Play-In spot) in the West.