Donte DiVincenzo is listed at 6’4”, 203 lbs. Those are the prototypical measurements for a point guard. Still, DiVincenzo has played many different positions during his six-year career, especially under Tom Thibodeau with the New York Knicks.
Overall, 76% of his minutes last year were at shooting guard and 23% at small forward. He was a jack of all trades in the Big Apple and efficient at whatever he did. Those are two reasons why the Minnesota Timberwolves sought him out for years and didn’t accept the Knicks’ trade offer for Karl-Anthony Towns until he was in the package.
“I’m trying to play the 4, to be honest with you,” DiVincenzo said jokingly when a reporter asked him about his versatility during his introductory press conference.
Minnesota lost considerable point guard depth this off-season amid its financial crunch. Jordan McLaughlin and Monte Morris walked in free agency. The Wolves traded up to select Rob Dillingham out of Kentucky at No. 8. Still, their point guard room remained shallow, and they hope to limit Mike Conley’s minutes entering his 18th season. DiVincenzo is built like a point guard but doesn’t care which position he plays.
“I am a basketball player,” said DiVincenzo. “Our team is full of basketball players. Whatever Finch throws out there, I think the IQ and versatility of this team make anything possible, which is a big reason why I am so excited. You are not in a box of just the one or the two. We can play with so many lineups, which is what is so exciting about this.”
After shocking the NBA world by trading Towns to New York four days before training camp, Chris Finch and his staff have worked tirelessly to quickly get everyone on the same page. The Wolves replaced their No. 2 scoring option with a three-time All-Star and depth. Finch desperately needed DiVincenzo’s outside shooting, and we got a glimpse into how the offensive-minded head coach plans to use the former Villanova Wildcat in the team’s first preseason game.
Typically, it’s wise not to read too much into the preseason. Teams are working things out before the season and building their stamina after a long offseason of individual drills and scrimmages against their teammates. The starters usually only play the first half to avoid injury, so lineups and rotations look different in the preseason than in the regular season.
Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle didn’t play in Minnesota’s preseason opener against the Los Angeles Lakers in Palm Springs. Instead, the Wolves started DiVincenzo and Naz Reid in their places. Finch most likely wanted to drop DiVincenzo into the deep end to see how he would fair alongside his new teammates. He played only ten minutes in his Wolves debut, but the early returns were positive. DiVincenzo scored 11 points on 4 of 4 from the floor and 3 of 3 from deep, setting the tone for Minnesota’s 124-107 win.
DiVincenzo wasted no time showing off his game to Wolves fans, drilling a catch-and-shoot three-pointer six minutes into the game. He brought the ball over the timeline but immediately deferred to Conley, running to the corner. Once Conley relocated to the top of the key, DiVincenzo flared to the wing and camped behind a pin-down screen from Rudy Gobert.
Finch designed this play to generate an open three for DiVincenzo. It will be a play that Finch will keep in his back pocket all season, pulling it out when the Wolves desperately need a bucket. However, being directly involved in a motion offense isn’t where most of his offense will come from, especially when Donte shares the floor next to Edwards or Randle.
Being an off-ball scorer isn’t anything new for DiVincenzo. He averaged 17.8 points over 13 playoff games for the Knicks last season, with 55.5% of his attempts coming off zero dribbles. DiVincenzo has thrived without the ball in his hands his entire career, but he honed that skill by learning from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson with the Golden State Warriors.
“Being with Steph and Klay, I picked up moving during the whole 24 seconds and never standing still because when you are standing still, the defense is resting,” explained DiVincenzo. “But when you move around, they will mess up at some point.”
DiVincenzo attempted 8.2 threes per game last season. He is not bashful when the ball swings to him. However, he knows constant motion benefits the entire team, not just him. “You may not get the shot, but when you are moving around, somebody else might get the shot,” said DiVincenzo. “A wide-open shot is the only thing you can hope for.”
The Wolves will need DiVincenzo to hunt his shot when the ball rotates to him. But he kept his eyes up and made the smart play every time he touched the ball on Friday, even when that meant passing up a good shot for a great shot. This habit will always promote a healthy offense and limit stagnant possessions that result in a forced shot, which the Wolves struggled with last season when Edwards or Towns were on the bench.
We weren’t able to see Edwards and DiVincenzo share the floor on Friday. However, maximizing how much playing time they get together will benefit easy offense for DiVincenzo and force the defense to choose when and where they double-team Edwards carefully.
“It will be harder for teams to sit in the gaps all night because he can shoot really good,” Edwards told the media on Sunday. “I am going to be super happy just throwing the ball to him in the other slot and him knocking it down. As the game progresses, [the defense] gradually gets closer to him, and I can get downhill.”
Minnesota lost its best three-point shooter when it got rid of Towns. Randle’s game should fit nicely alongside Edwards and Gobert, who like to operate in the paint. However, Randle shot 31.1% from deep last season, with only 26% of his attempts coming from three-point range. DiVincenzo’s elite movement shooting will help Minnesota’s spacing tremendously, but it will look far different than it did with Towns.
Finch must find a balance with the Big Ragu’s minutes, though.
DiVincenzo played most of the first quarter on Friday alongside Conley. However, once Finch replaced Conley with Nickeil Alexander-Walker, DiVincenzo remained playing off the ball. Seeing how Donte’s role evolves will be interesting as the preseason progresses. He’s comfortable with the ball in his hands, allowing him to be another primary ball-handler behind Conley, Dillingham, and Alexander-Walker to mix up the looks for the defense.
The Wolves don’t play again until Friday, so Finch and his staff have plenty of time to focus on what they liked and didn’t from Minnesota’s first preseason game. DiVincenzo didn’t even play a full quarter in his Wolves debut, but he already displayed exactly what he can bring to his new team. Donte’s role could blossom into having more on-ball duties as he gets more comfortable. But for now, Finch will lean heavily on his outside shooting.
