Last season, Donte DiVincenzo’s life flipped upside down overnight when the New York Knicks traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of the Karl-Anthony Towns–Julius Randle swap.
DiVincenzo had a very rushed season. He arrived in Minnesota days before training camp. He quickly had to learn how to play alongside his new teammates, coaches, and system, while also adjusting to significant changes in his personal life.
DiVincenzo eventually adjusted, but there were still areas of his offensive usage that were awkward. The Knicks’ offense was perfectly tailored to his playstyle. After having the best season of his career, he had to quickly pivot to playing on the ball more with Minnesota, as he no longer had a playmaking big man to help him get to his spots.
What had finally made DiVincenzo comfortable was now gone.
However, even with the drastic change shortly before camp, DiVincenzo still managed to find pockets of success in his first season in Minnesota.
Minnesota couldn’t match the utilization and offensive usage that DiVincenzo had so much success with in New York. DiVincenzo was inconsistent throughout the year, but the team was successful, and he eventually capitalized on it.
DiVincenzo finished the season as a part of one of Minnesota’s best lineups. Four of his five most-used five-man lineups finish as a net positive.
Within those combinations, the most frequently used five-man lineup last season that featured DiVincenzo was him alongside the starters. Plus-6.2 NET rating is nothing too game-changing, but it offers the Timberwolves another easy toggle point within the starting unit if Mike Conley continues to decline in play.
The downside is that three of the four most-played five-man lineups featured Nickeil Alexander-Walker, whom Minnesota signed and traded to the Atlanta Hawks. He’s the only rotation player the Wolves lost in the offseason, but trading him has forced a lot of tinkering within the backcourt.
Minnesota had numerous options when it used DiVincenzo and Alexander-Walker simultaneously.
While neither excelled as on-ball initiators, someone had to take on that responsibility. Meanwhile, the latter was in their more comfortable off-ball/secondary ball-handler role. It wasn’t always perfect, but DiVincenzo and Alexander-Walker had established themselves enough to battle through the regular season and still account for solid minutes even when they didn’t play their best.
Figuring out the pathway forward without Alexander-Walker is more reliant on how they use DiVincenzo, rather than relying on Conley, Rob Dillingham, or Bones Hyland.
Still, it’s hard to create the perfect playing context for DiVincenzo.
With the Knicks, DiVincenzo excelled playing alongside Isaiah Hartenstein as a handoff hub. In that role, DiVincenzo was still able to get up his three-point shots at will, find space without having to dribble, and have others set him up for success. His singular Knicks season may have been his personal career peak. Therefore, it’s hard to compare it to his Timberwolves career due to the statistical outliers of his time in New York.
However, his New York season contextualizes how difficult it can be to play to DiVincenzo’s strengths as a player. The circumstances need to be specific for him to flourish to his fullest potential.
The best the Timberwolves can do this upcoming season is to continue playing with rhythm and flow. When things get stagnant, secondary scorers and ball-handlers like DiVincenzo are more likely to press. When there is pace and players have an internal clock on the ball, they’re more likely to make better decisions.
Chris Finch has effectively showcased this intersection in DiVincenzo’s game by using him as an on-ball player to set up more opportunities for him to utilize his off-the-ball skills.
Finch has achieved this by frequently using DiVincenzo as an initiator, flowing into a handoff, and then bringing him off an empty side pindown. It has been a staple play in the preseason.
“When you’re out there, it’s just basketball, honestly,” DiVincenzo said at an after-practice scrum Monday regarding playing on-ball versus off-ball. “It’s everybody by committee. A lot of our plays are interchangeable.”
He’s confident in his ability to set up Anthony Edwards, Randle, and Minnesota’s offense. However, there are legitimate concerns with DiVincenzo’s handle, how he fares against full-court ball pressure, and his tendency to turn the ball over.
DiVincenzo is a solid connective playmaker, but his decision-making wavers when he needs to create an advantage or when he steps into the paint.
The easiest way for a player to grow as a playmaker is to use their scoring ability. That’s how Anthony Edwards improved as a playmaker last year. However, DiVincenzo lacks the dynamic scoring ability inside the arc to effectively manipulate defensive coverages, even when he has an advantage off an off-ball pindown.
When defenders stick to their matchups and don’t respect DiVincenzo’s scoring threat, it’s harder for him to find the kickout or dumpoff pass. That situation has created uncomfortable circumstances for DiVincenzo, ultimately making him turnover-prone.
When DiVincenzo has tried to find others, he has relied on jump passes that have had a low success rate. He also has been out of control on drives towards the rim, or has completely lost the ball off the dribble due to his issues handling the ball in traffic.
Despite the offensive context not being ideal for DiVincenzo, much of his game still relies on his ability to knock down three-point shots. There is still considerable room for cohesive growth with DiVincenzo as the season approaches.
Much of it comes down to him buying into team principles. If Chris Finch can avoid using DiVincenzo as a on-ball threat and decision maker and allow him to have more freedom with off-ball sets, it will put a controlled cap on his output.
The Timberwolves don’t need DiVincenzo to tap into his upside every night. Instead, they need his controlled game-to-game output. It may not have been the peak of his time with the Knicks, but it would be dramatically more impactful than the volatility he displayed last season.
DiVincenzo said that his on-ball and off-ball usage does not matter as much as it appears from the outside. He’s confident in his abilities to be an essential part of ball movement and offensive cohesion. There needs to be a better balance between structure and utilization, as well as a better fit for DiVincenzo’s skillset, for him to find his place in the rotation this upcoming season.
