Donte DiVincenzo was looking forward to playing with his former Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and the newly acquired Mikal Bridges before an abrupt change. The New York Knicks traded him and Julius Randle to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Karl-Anthony Towns days before training camp.
“It’s been a season of adapting,” DiVincenzo said at the end of the season. “Throughout the season, just having to adapt to different roles and what’s asked of you.”
The Wolves were DiVincenzo’s fifth team in four seasons, so he was familiar with changes of scenery. Finding rhythm in a new situation is still easier said than done, even though DiVincenzo would be playing with Randle in Minnesota.
DiVincenzo’s discomfort became evident in the first quarter of the season. In DiVincenzo’s first 20 games with the Timberwolves, he averaged just 9.1 points per game on 36.0/33.3/75.0 shooting splits, a 50.5% true shooting percentage (TS%), and a 16.4% turnover percentage (TO%).
DiVincenzo started improving immediately before he got hurt
DiVincenzo could not get acclimated.
However, he turned a corner in the next 20 games, averaging 10.6 points per game on 42.8/40.3/ 85.3 shoot splits, a 60.3% TS%, and a 13.8% TO%. Unfortunately, shortly after, DiVincenzo suffered a foot injury in the final minutes of a tight battle against the Golden State Warriors that would force him to miss five weeks.
DiVincenzo picked up where he left off when he returned from injury and played his best basketball of the season. He averaged 10.7 points on 46.4/44.7/61.5 shooting splits, with a 62.7% TS%, and a 11.0% TO% in the final 22 games of the season. However, Minnesota’s playoff opponents highlighted DiVincenzo’s flaws as a player.
Role players are situational, and they have limitations to their game. To maintain a continued career in the NBA as a role player, it all depends on finding a niche and learning how to impact the game in small ways without getting in the way of others. Therefore, it is difficult for role players to change teams as often as DiVincenzo and make the same impact, even if their new team uses them similarly.
Minneota’s playoff opponents put DiVincenzo in uncomfortable positions
DiVincenzo has an advantage as an elite 3-point shooter, but in today’s NBA, elite 3-point shooting can still only get a player so far. When teams drove DiVincenzo off the 3-point line and forced him to attack inside the arc or off the dribble, his offensive value diminished, negatively impacting Minnesota’s offense.
He wasn’t finishing at the rim enough throughout the regular season. Per Cleaning the Glass, DiVincenzo shot 58% at the rim this past season, which ranks in the 34th percentile for combo guards.
DiVincenzo also had a 12.1% TO% on his drives, according to NBA tracking data, which ranked worst in the NBA among players with three or more drives per game and 50 or more games played.
Both issues continued into the playoffs.
DiVincenzo also struggled when the Wolves miscast him as an initiator for the offense. DiVincenzo struggled to handle aggressive pressure when he had to bring the ball up the court. That slowed Minnesota’s offense down, forced it into more turnovers, and took DiVincenzo away from his optimal role as an off-ball scoring primary, secondary playmaker. Opponents only exacerbated those issues in the playoffs.
Chris Finch managed around the warts of DiVincenzo’s game in the regular season, but he couldn’t do that in the playoffs when teams have more time and multiple games to prepare for opponents. To maximize DiVincenzo, the Wolves must more effectively use him in ways that can translate to the most important games of the season.
Alexander-Walker’s departure will create opportunities for DiVincenzo
Ideally, DiVincenzo can slide into more of a heavy catch-and-shoot off-ball offensive role while Mike Conley, Anthony Edwards, Randle, and potentially Rob Dillingham handle the on-ball initiation duties. Ultimately, the Wolves still need to make adjustments to DiVincenzo’s role for him to achieve more consistent success throughout the season.
DiVincenzo has been a part of different offensive systems over his last three seasons.
He found rhythm in Golden State’s movement-heavy offense in the 2022/23 season. DiVincenzo capitalized on Steph Curry and Jordan Poole’s on-ball gravity, and screens and handoffs from Kevon Looney and Draymond Green.
DiVincenzo’s season still had flaws. Donte had a 16.4% turnover percentage (TO%), which remains a career high. It is normal for players to have an increased TO% in Golden State’s motion system. Still, it was an early example of how DiVincenzo can be turnover-prone even in good situations.
However, DiVincenzo had a breakthrough in New York in the 2023/24 season. Donte was able to lower his TO% to a career-low 9.7% while increasing his usage from 15.1% with the Warriors to a career-high 21.3% with the Knicks.
A significant portion of DiVincenzo’s success in New York can be attributed to the Knicks’ 5-out delay offense featuring Isaiah Hartenstein.
“This year has been a year of adapting,” DiVincenzo said at the end of the season. “Last year, I got my shots in very consistent ways. I knew every single day I’m getting them in transition, in the corner off Jalen’s isos, or off a (dribble handoff) DHO off Isaiah.”
The Wolves need to find consistent ways to get DiVincenzo in comfortable spots
The offense does not revolve around DiVincenzo, but Finch and the Wolves have a full season’s worth of data to study in the offseason.
Multiple controllable variables can lead to more offensive success for DiVincenzo next season. It revolves around optimizing DiVincenzo’s shot usage and play types with the Knicks, his off-ball role with the Warriors, and utilizing DiVincenzo’s comfort with Minnesota’s roster and a full off-season to their advantage.
The Wolves cannot replicate Hartenstein’s handoff actions completely because of Rudy Gobert’s limitations. Still, there are opportunities for the Timberwolves to utilize Randle more frequently in two-man, freelance handoff actions, allowing DiVincenzo to create more opportunities without overextending his dribble.
Dillingham’s emergence could also give the Timberwolves a more dynamic offensive feel, allowing DiVincenzo to operate off the ball, even in bench-reliant lineups. That would enable DiVincenzo to have more of a catch-and-shoot-reliant shot diet.
There are multiple pathways for success. It ultimately comes down to how much Finch wants to adjust DiVincenzo’s role and how much he trusts others to take on the on-ball duties.
DiVincenzo has all the tools to be a game-changing role player for the Timberwolves, and he showed flashes of it last season. There just needs to be a better balance between the coaching staff and DiVincenzo’s comfort zones to reach the capable high-end output that DiVincenzo is capable of achieving.
