NBA
Donte DiVincenzo Thanks Knicks Fans After Trade: ‘1 of the Best Years of My Life’
David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images
Former New York Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo, who was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Karl-Anthony Towns trade, thanked the New York fans for “one of the best years of my life” on Thursday.
Ian Begley @IanBegley
Donte DiVincenzo with a message of thanks to Knicks fans, via his agency: “Thank you for one of the best years of my life….It was just one season, but one for the record books.” DiVincenzo’s full statement here: pic.twitter.com/tLtlyVJecS
The trade broke up the Villanova quartet of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges and DiVincenzo, who were briefly reunited on the Knicks this summer after Bridges was acquired in a trade before New York landed Towns and sacrificed DiVincenzo in the process.
In Minnesota, DiVincenzo will join Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, Mike Conley, Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid and rookie Rob Dillingham, a talented but perhaps mismatched core group of players.
If there were concerns about the duo of Gobert and Towns down on the block, for instance, Randle won’t alleviate them. Granted, trading Towns was more about financial flexibility into the future, though breaking up a roster that just reached the Western Conference Finals this season, rather than giving them another year to chase a title, was a surprising choice.
The trade was less surprising for the Knicks, who were linked to Towns in the past. More importantly, he’ll offer the team a major offensive upgrade at center, pairing with Brunson, Hart, Bridges and OG Anunoby in a stacked starting lineup.
Whether he can provide the sort of defense that head coach Tom Thibodeau craves is another matter entirely, though the defensive acumen of players like Bridges and Anunoby should help cover up some of Towns’ deficiencies on that end. Sacrificing Randle and DiVincenzo for the spacing and scoring that Towns provides was a worthwhile gamble.
The loss of DiVincenzo will be felt beyond just the Nova vibes sacrificed, however. The 27-year-old was fantastic in the 2023-24 season, averaging career highs in points (15.5 PPG), three-point percentage (40.1 percent) and total three-pointers made (283), the latter of which was the 14th-most threes made in a single season in NBA history.
The Wolves would be thrilled if DiVincenzo replicated those types of numbers. It remains to be seen if the 27-year-old took a major step forward last season or if he was simply in the perfect system for his particular skill set in New York.
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