Exclusive | Donte DiVincenzo shuts down ‘completely untrue’ Knicks rumors from before Timberwolves trade

Ahead of his return to MSG, Donte DiVincenzo denied the “completely untrue” rumors that he was upset the Knicks acquired Mikal Bridges because it would move him to the bench.

“Obviously everyone wants to start coming off the season I had last year, but I also understand that there’s different lineups and different combinations that teams want to get to – I understand that. It was never a thing of, ‘Oh, we got Mikal, I’m pissed off.’ I was super excited,” DiVincenzo told The Post. “Take the Villanova s–t out of it, I was super excited because we have a very good player coming back to the team. And you get OG [Anunoby] back, now you’re looking at, ‘Wow we’re going to be really good.’ There was never a conversation of my role was going to be diminished. There was never a conversation that my minutes would be diminished. It was the outside assumption and ran with it and it was untrue.”

DiVincenzo, now a member of the Timberwolves after last month’s blockbuster trade, was thrust into the Knicks’ starting lineup last season because of injuries and thrived well beyond expectations.

He set the franchise record for 3-pointers, led the Eastern Conference in treys after December and became New York’s second-leading scorer in the playoffs after Jalen Brunson.

About a month after their postseason run ended, the Knicks used five first-round picks to acquire Bridges from Brooklyn.

It not only bolstered the Villanova connection with four college teammates on the Knicks, but also created a logjam on the wings with three former Wildcats – Bridges, DiVincenzo and Josh Hart – all capable of starting.

Logic suggested Bridges would replace DiVincenzo in the lineup but that was never discussed with the 27-year-old.

“There was no conversations with [coach Tom Thibodeau.] There was no conversations with [team president] Leon [Rose],” DiVincenzo said. “There was no conversations where it’s like, ‘Hey, we got Mikal, this is what you’re role is going to be.’ Because you don’t know until the season starts. So my mind wasn’t on that.”

DiVincenzo was swapped in late September with Julius Randle for Karl-Anthony Towns, a move that was followed by a report the guard was “really unhappy” about not starting with the Knicks and wasn’t a fan of the Villanova reunion storyline.

“I don’t know how that kind of picked up speed but it’s completely untrue. You can look at the team I’m on right now – there’s going to be some games I start, and there’s going to be a lot of games I come off the bench,” said DiVincenzo, who is projected to come off the Minnesota bench behind a guard/wing trio of Mike Conley, Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels.

Sporting a full red beard, DiVincenzo was back at MSG on Sunday and warming up on the same hoop he nailed that Game 2 winner against the Sixers – perhaps the biggest Knicks shot of the last 20-plus years.

He was expected to play in Sunday’s preseason contest, facing off against Bridges, Brunson, Hart and the rest of the Knicks.

Earlier in the week, GQ Magazine published a story and video shoot of the ‘Nova foursome but the theme had to be reworked because the interviews were conducted before the trade.

“It’s not weird. We’re friends outside of basketball,” DiVincenzo said. “It’s not like we just became friends in basketball and that’s the only thing we have friendship-wise. Those are my brothers. We could do the shoot, whether all of us play for four different teams or the same team. I think the timing of it was kind of funny. But that doesn’t change anything about the relationship or anything. We don’t feel weird like saying, ‘I’m not in it, so why would you post it?’”

With the move so sudden and occurring just before training camp, DiVincenzo said he still owns a house in New York and it was strange to sleep in his regular bed before a road game.

The trade, after all, was a stunner. But it wasn’t about DiVincenzo being disgruntled over his role.

“I was at home when I heard about the trade. And when it went down, I kind of heard rumors of what was going on. The only thing that made sense for me was (going to) Minnesota,” DiVincenzo said. “Initially, you never want to get traded. So I was kind of upset, I was kind of hurt. …And my mind went right to (the Timberwolves). ….It was an easy transition. There were no angry feelings, no mad feelings, nothing like that. It was an initial, ‘Damn I got traded.’ And you move on to the next thing. It was all love.”