Chicago Bulls Share That Rob Dillingham Started Offseason with a Minor Surgery

The Chicago Bulls announced on Wednesday afternoon that Rob Dillingham underwent successful surgery. The guard had a procedure to remove a ganglion cyst in his wrist. The Bulls noted that updates on Dillingham's status will be provided as appropriate, although it was considered a relatively minor surgery.

The news comes only 10 days after the Bulls wrapped up their 2025-26 campaign, as well as a little over two weeks after ownership fired Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley. The former front office regime was the one to acquire Dillingham at the most recent trade deadline. A former No. 8 overall pick, Dillingham was only in his second season with the Minnesota Timberwolves before they chose to move him in exchange for Ayo Dosunmu. The Bulls also received four second-round picks and guard Mike Conley, who was later flipped.

Since coming over in the deadline day deal, Dillingham appeared in 30 games and averaged just under 22 minutes per contest. He averaged 9.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists on 42.0 percent shooting from the field.

Rob Dillingham Has Early Offseason Surgery

Mar 27, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Rob Dillingham (7) drives down the court as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) defends during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

For what it's worth, this is not the first time Rob Dillingham's wrist issue has come to light. While never listed on the injury report for the ailment, former head coach Billy Donovan shared in March that Dillingham had received treatment for the cysts. More specifically, the guard had injections to help deal with the stiffness.

Will Gottlieb of CHGO proceeded to speak with Dillingham about the cyst, who shared that it was something he had been playing through since entering the NBA. Gottlieb also noted that, when shown the difference in mobility between Dillingham's two wrists, it was "stark."

As someone who built his draft stock around elite ball-handling and efficient shooting, news of the injury sure felt notable. Donovan particularly called out the impact the cysts have had on Dillingham's jumper. After drilling triples at a 44.4 percent rate with the Kentucky Wildcats on sizable volume, Dillingham has been only a 32.4 percent downtown shooter in the NBA. He's also gone just 70.0 percent from the charity stripe during his first two seasons.

To be sure, this doesn't mean this specific issue is responsible for Dillingham's NBA woes. Not only has the guard still been able to play through it, but his size was always viewed as a hurdle at the next level. Dillingham is six-foot-two with a light and wiry frame. As explosive as he can look off the bounce, shooting and finishing over the top of defenders has been a real issue.

Might having more mobility in his shooting hand help? Absolutely, but he still has a long way to go in the decision-making and strength departments. To his credit, though, Dillingham did show some meaningful improvement in his final few weeks of the year. The Bulls' long list of injuries led to the most playing time of his young career. This led to a much better 47.2 percent shooting effort from the field in his final 17 outings. He even recorded a career high 26 points in 27 minutes against the Wizards, nailing five of his eight triples.

The key question now is, how will a new Chicago Bulls front office view the youngster? Still only 21 years old, will they see Dillingham as a legitimate building block for the future, or someone that doesn't necessarily fit the kind of team they hope to build long-term? If one thing is for sure, having the healthiest version of Dillingham will go a long way in helping them make a decision.

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