Although he was prepared to be on the move at the 2022 trade deadline, Donte DiVincenzo was surprised when he found out he was headed from Milwaukee to Sacramento, telling Anthony Slater of The Athletic that he thought he’d end up with the Celtics in a trade involving Dennis Schröder.
“I don’t know what happened. Somebody might’ve wanted too much,” DiVincenzo said. “But that was my impression, that I was going to Boston. The Sacramento one came out of nowhere.”
Since he was eligible for restricted free agency over the summer, DiVincenzo was fully prepared to remain with the Kings and was once again caught off guard when Sacramento opted not to give him a qualifying offer. DiVincenzo said he had “mixed emotions” about the chance to become an unrestricted free agent.
“I can pick where I want to go, but then you have the other side, like, ‘Damn, they didn’t want me? Do they still want me? Are they trying to do something with a cap hold or whatever?’” DiVincenzo said. “I didn’t understand all that stuff. But my mind was just open, spinning, hectic for a couple days.”
The former Villanova standout ultimately landed in Golden State on a two-year deal that includes a second-year player option, and he’s enjoying the Warriors experience so far, telling Slater that he has been especially impressed by the team’s communication on defense.
“Draymond (Green) is contagious. He’s the engine on defense. He calls out everything,” DiVincenzo said. “Once he does that, you hear (Kevon Looney), you hear (Andrew Wiggins), you hear Steph (Curry), you hear everyone talking. Last night, when I was playing with the younger guys, I felt like if I lock in and communicate on defense, it’ll be contagious to them. That’s fun. Dudes want to do things that normally guys don’t like doing in the NBA.”
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- Tyler Herro‘s four-year, $120MM deal with Miami will likely change the way extension negotiations play out between the Warriors and Jordan Poole, Slater writes for The Athletic. While the two sides would like to reach an agreement on a new deal, the floor for Poole is probably higher now than it would’ve been when contracts like Anfernee Simons‘ ($100MM) and RJ Barrett‘s ($107MM) were the primary reference points.
- After picking the Warriors to win just 39 games last season, John Hollinger of The Athletic admits he may not have a great feel for the team, but he projects the Dubs to go 53-29 in 2022/23 and views them as a “slight favorite” to return to the NBA Finals.
- Having Andre Iguodala back for one more season may have a positive impact on the Warriors’ future, according to Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic, who notes that getting guidance and feedback from Iguodala for another year could benefit the club’s young prospects in the long run.
- Could forward Patrick Baldwin Jr. enter the Warriors’ rotation as a rookie? Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area explores that possibility, noting that Baldwin’s teammates and coaches like what they’ve seen from him so far.
- In case you missed it, the Warriors increased their preseason roster count back to the maximum of 20 earlier today by officially signing Anthony Lamb.
Donte wasn’t good at all in Sacramento. It can’t be too surprising that they didn’t want him back. A slightly lesser role on a much better team should be a much better fit for the boy tho. Warriors are stupid deep. If Pat Baldwin is able to get even as much pt as JTA got last season that will be a huge success for him individually as a rookie
Sankara, I think that if its expected that Baldwin only will get JTA type minutes then they’d have him in G league. To get way more minutes. Seems like he’d be losing time to improve his game only getting JTA minutes. Kinda like a major league prospect that dominates AAA then comes up and plays a lot. I guess I’d just like to see him kick butt at G league before he gets limited major league time. And I don’t know enough about Donte to comment (didn’t watch much Kings ball) but he was only soso, imo, in Japan. So I’ll trust your opinion of him.
JTA played 1000mins last season & played a role in them winning the title. G-League is very useful & thats prob where he ends up majority of time but if Baldwin is part of the rotation & helping them get Ws & building chemistry with the guys that’s even more useful
@sankara Dude. Freaking grow up. He was still rehabbing from a surgically repaired ankle injury. It takes longer to come back from injuries than you realize. Some linger for the rest of your life…And you do realize that the Warriors won the Finals last year? He went from a team that finished last in the division, fired its coach, and has a 25 year old wannabe Rapper/Singer as an Asst. GM. OK, she is hot. Obviously, one team is better at evaluating and using talent.
Donte will be fine. He will play his role off the bench as a scoring option and can play some defense. Kings make a lot of bad moves so I wouldn’t go by what kings do because this is the same team that made that horrible trade with the pacers last year.
Donte was a starter with the Bucks. He seems very accepting of his role. He and Iggy might supercharge the Second Unit.
“Slight favorite” lol still cant hold the L, this team is wrecking the league this season – fact.
65 wins is more than on the table and that’s being conservative. They might get 70+.
I always trust Draymond to regulate the Warriors. If he doesn’t approve of Poole’s attitude, i trust him. Everyone wanted Mr. Green traded after the KD dispute, but time has shown us who was right.