Donte Divincenzo Rumors

Western Notes: Popovich, Durant, Rockets, Thompson, Randle, DiVincenzo

April 18th, 2025 at 4:53pm CST by Luke Adams

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, who spent most of the season away from the team while recovering from a stroke, was taken to a hospital on Tuesday following a medical incident at a restaurant, as first reported by TMZ and confirmed by Shams Charania of ESPN.

According to TMZ, Popovich was taken out of the restaurant on a stretcher and was transported to a hospital in an ambulance after officials reportedly received a call about a patron who had “fainted” while eating dinner. The incident was described as non-life-threatening, per TMZ, and Popovich was said to be alert and talking by the time he entered the ambulance. The Spurs coach is now home and doing fine, Charania confirms.

Popovich was replaced on the Spurs’ bench by assistant coach Mitch Johnson in early November after suffering a stroke. Although he didn’t return to his role this season, though he met with players in February and put out a statement indicating he hopes to eventually reclaim his spot on the sidelines.

It’s still unclear whether or not that will ultimately be possible. At age 76, Popovich is the oldest head coach in NBA history by a considerable margin — he passed Hubie Brown (71) for that mark several years ago.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Following the latest round of rumors linking Kevin Durant to Houston, Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link) say a Rockets pursuit of the Suns forward actually appears “less likely” than previously believed. Stein and Fischer have repeatedly reported that Houston is focused more on stars who would better fit the timeline of the team’s young core, rather than a veteran like Durant who will turn 37 later this year.
Rockets guard Amen Thompson has been one of the NBA’s breakout players of the 2024/25 season, emerging in his second season as a candidate for Most Improved Player, All-Defense, and even Defensive Player of the Year. Chris Mannix of SI.com takes an in-depth look at one of Houston’s long-term cornerstones, whose improvement on both ends of the court has earned high praise from head coach Ime Udoka. “When I coached Kyrie (Irving, in Boston), you would be wowed at something he did offensively every night,” Udoka said. “It’s the same thing with Amen on the defensive end. You can’t teach what he does. … He can be a top 15-level player. All-NBA level. People are seeing flashes. We see more.”
It’s rare for major NBA trades to occur at the start of training camp, but that’s when the Timberwolves and Knicks completed their blockbuster deal that sent Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota for Karl-Anthony Towns. As Chris Hine of The Star Tribune details, the unexpected move upended the lives of Randle and DiVincenzo off the court as well as on it, and it took the duo some time to adjust to the change of scenery. Hine explores how the two Timberwolves got settled in Minnesota and how their increased comfort level helped fuel an impressive late-season run for the club, which won 17 of its last 21 games.

Wolves Notes: Ownership Battle, Gobert, Alexander-Walker, DiVincenzo

April 4th, 2025 at 12:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

The nearly year-long battle that Glen Taylor waged to keep control of the Timberwolves gave Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez more time to improve their financial position, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Taylor gave up that fight this week and reportedly won’t appeal an arbitration case that was decided in favor of the new owners.

As Krawczynski writes, Lore and Rodriguez were able to secure former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg as a minority investor and set aside $950MM in an escrow account. Although they still need formal approval from the NBA’s Board of Governors, having that much cash on hand takes away any financial concerns about their ability to operate the team.

Sources tell Krawczynski that the long-running dispute has ended any plans of having Taylor remain as a limited partner after the sale is finalized. Taylor will be fully bought out, and complete control will be transferred to the Lore-Rodriguez group, which also includes former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and several other high-profile investors.

Krawczynski speculates that Taylor, who underwent hip surgery in December, wanted to put the issue behind him now that he’s feeling better physically. He also recognized that it’s difficult to get an arbitrator’s decision reversed, and he doesn’t want to be responsible for the team’s tax bill of nearly $90MM when the league’s fiscal year ends this summer.

There’s more from Minnesota:

Rudy Gobert‘s presence in the middle gives the Wolves hope of recapturing the dominant defense that led the NBA last season, Krawczynski adds in a separate story. The team has been more sporadic this year, Krawczynski observes, ranking sixth in defensive efficiency, but Gobert is asserting himself more as the playoffs approach. “I just try to set the tone,” he said. “I know that when I do that, it’s contagious for the team. For me, it’s really important to do it for the first minute of the game to the last and in practice every day and in the weight room. Wherever I’m at, I try to lead by example.”
Nickeil Alexander-Walker described himself as “lost” when he was sent to Minnesota along with Mike Conley at the 2023 trade deadline, per Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. Alexander-Walker has developed into a valuable rotation player, but he feared at the time that his NBA career might be close to an end. “Traded twice in 18 hours, not knowing what my reality of my career was gonna be,” he recalled. “Especially going into year four, I truly believed this could be my last year, going into my contract year, haven’t really had the opportunity to show what I could do.”
In an interview with Simone Sandri of La Gazzetta dello Sport, Donte DiVincenzo said he hopes to play for Italy at EuroBasket this summer. DiVincenzo recently talked to officials from the Italian national team and just has to finalize his passport. “I would say yes, we are all on the same wavelength,” he said. “For me it would be great to represent Italy, now we just have to wait for the documents to arrive.”

NBA Announces Five Suspensions For Pistons/Timberwolves Altercation

April 1st, 2025 at 11:20am CST by Luke Adams

Five players have been suspended following the altercation between the Pistons and Timberwolves that took place in Minnesota on Sunday, the league announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

Those suspensions are as follows:

Isaiah Stewart (Pistons): Two games
Ron Holland (Pistons): One game
Marcus Sasser (Pistons): One game
Naz Reid (Timberwolves): One game
Donte DiVincenzo (Timberwolves): One game

All five players were ejected from Sunday’s game following an on-court incident that occurred midway through the second quarter.

Holland, who tried to swipe the ball away from Reid as he drove to the basket, was called for a foul and was immediately confronted by the Timberwolves big man, who yelled at the Pistons forward and repeatedly jabbed his finger at him. DiVincenzo quickly entered the mix and he and Holland shoved one another, leading to a scrum that spilled into the stands along the baseline.

As those three players fell into the stands, Sasser and Stewart entered the fray and shoved Reid and DiVincenzo, resulting in a “continued escalation” of the situation, per the NBA.

In addition to those five players, the game’s officials ejected Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Timberwolves assistant Pablo Prigioni. However, neither coach was mentioned in today’s announcement, so it appears they won’t face any additional discipline from the NBA.

According to the league, Stewart received an extra game due in part to his “repeated history of unsportsmanlike acts.” He’ll miss Wednesday’s game in Oklahoma City and Friday’s contest in Toronto, while his teammates Holland and Sasser will only have to sit out on Wednesday. Reid and DiVincenzo will serve their suspensions on Tuesday when the Wolves face the Nuggets in Denver.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, Stewart’s two-game suspension will cost him $206,897, which represents 2/145ths of his $15MM salary for 2024/25. Holland ($46,812), Sasser ($15,834), Reid ($80,283), and DiVincenzo ($65,776) will lose 1/174th of their respective salaries for this season.

Central Notes: Bickerstaff, Prigioni, Atkinson, Jones, Bucks Defense

March 31st, 2025 at 8:12pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Not only did five players get ejected for a brawl between the Pistons and Timberwolves on Sunday night, but Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Timberwolves assistant coach Pablo Prigioni also got the boot.

It wasn’t a coincidence as the two coaches had a verbal altercation, according to The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski and Hunter Patterson.

“There was things said by their assistant coach and I’m in the same boat our guys are in,” Bickerstaff said. “We’re going to defend each other. I’m not going to let people say belligerent things about my guys. It’s that simple. He said what he said, he knows what he said.”

Prigioni reportedly made comments about Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart, who was one of the players ejected. Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo and Stewart had some verbal exchanges shortly before the brawl that spilled into the stands.

“From my understanding, he was trying to have a conversation with the referee about one of their players who’s kind of prone to these situations,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “And then their bench, J.B. in particular, had an issue with it, and they exchanged words.”

We have more from the Central Division:

Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson felt his team got a little complacent during the last couple of weeks. Atkinson let off some steam prior to their game against the Clippers on Sunday, according to The Athletic’s Joe Vardon, and the team responded with a 127-122 victory. “There was a very (explicit) message with a lot of choice words from Kenny that got us fired up,” center Jarrett Allen said. Atkinson commented, “We needed to, maybe for psychological reasons, get this game and get it in a good manner.”
Tre Jones‘ return from a sprained left foot has apparently hit a roadblock. The Bulls guard was still experiencing pain and wearing a walking boot over the weekend, according to The Chicago Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley. Jones hasn’t played since March 20. After the injury occurred, the Bulls announced Jones would be out for at least two weeks.
The Bucks had an embarrassing outing against the Hawks on Sunday, allowing 82 first-half points and 145 overall. A familiar problem cropped up, The Athletic’s Eric Nehm writes. They were consistently broken down by dribble drives. “They had a simple game plan (Sunday). Spread the floor, catch it and just put your head down and force a drive. And we just could not keep the ball in front of us,” coach Doc Rivers said. “Is that scheme? Is that ability? I gotta watch (to see). I never fall on the old coaching (adage) ‘We didn’t play hard’ because I don’t believe that. But we didn’t play well defensively and we got beat off the dribble a lot. And that’s not good for us.”

Pistons-Timberwolves Altercation Leads To Seven Ejections

March 30th, 2025 at 7:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

A fight that spilled into the stands marred the Pistons–Timberwolves game on Sunday with five players, Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and a Minnesota assistant coach getting ejected.

The altercation occurred with 8:36 remaining in the second quarter. Timberwolves big man Naz Reid was driving to the basket and Pistons rookie forward Ron Holland tried to swipe at the ball. Holland was called for a foul and Reid immediately confronted Holland, pointing his finger at Holland. Minnesota guard Donte DiVincenzo also confronted and pushed Holland, leading to a scrum that spilled into the stands along the baseline.

All the players on the court headed toward the stands and members of both coaching staffs came out to try to separate the competitors. The officiating crew, with assistance from the league’s replay center, chose to eject Holland, Isaiah Stewart and Marcus Sasser from the Pistons side and DiVincenzo, Reid and assistant coach Pablo Prigioni from the Timberwolves, along with an incredulous Bickerstaff. Luke Walton took over as Detroit’s coach for the remainder of the contest.

A replay of the fight, posted by House of Highlights on Youtube, can be found here.

Tensions were heightened moments earlier when Stewart and Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert had an angry exchange.

Fines and potential suspensions are likely for both teams, who are battling for playoff position. The Pistons are fifth in the Eastern Conference and looking to move up one spot, which would give them home court advantage in the first round.

Minnesota entered the game tied for seventh place in the Western Conference. The Timberwolves are looking to move up at least one notch and avoid the play-in tournament.

Western Notes: Wolves, Mavs, Missi, Zion, Thunder

March 15th, 2025 at 3:00pm CST by Luke Adams

After flirting with .500 for most of the first half of the season as they got accustomed to their new-look roster, the Timberwolves are 17-8 in their past 25 games and have won seven in a row. The Wolves won’t match their 56-win total from last season, but they’re pushing hard for a top-six spot in the Western Conference, which would guarantee them a place in the playoffs.

Following the blockbuster fall trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to New York and Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota, there was an adjustment period for the newcomers. DiVincenzo, in particular, struggled in the early part of the season, averaging 8.3 points per game on 35.3% shooting in his first 25 games. Since then, he’s putting up 15.1 PPG on 46.6% shooting.

Randle also took some time to get used to playing alongside center Rudy Gobert, but that duo has gotten more and more comfortable together. The Wolves have won the last 12 games in which Randle has been active and were just 5-8 last month when he missed time with a groin strain.

“We came a long way in our chemistry,” Gobert said after Wednesday’s victory in Denver, per Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. “I would say it really starts with Ant (Anthony Edwards) and Julius. The way they’ve been playing and the way they’ve been making the right play for the teammates has been having a tremendous impact for us.”

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

NBA teams are required to have at least eight healthy players suit up for each game. The Mavericks, who can’t currently sign a player due to their proximity to the hard cap, are flirting with that cut-off and are at risk of falling below the minimum threshold with two-way players Kessler Edwards and Brandon Williams nearing their active-game limits. Bobby Marks of ESPN (YouTube link) explores what would happen if the Mavs don’t have eight healthy players on hand, suggesting that the club would likely have to violate the league’s injury-reporting rules by listing an injured player as available in order to meet the required minimum and avoid a forfeit.
The Pelicans will be missing a pair of frontcourt starters on Saturday night in San Antonio. Forward Zion Williamson is unavailable for personal reasons, while center Yves Missi will sit for a second straight game due to a left ankle sprain, per the team (Twitter link).
What do the Pelicans have to left to play for as they enter the home stretch of a disappointing season? Rod Walker of NOLA.com spoke to head coach Willie Green and a few New Orleans players about that topic. “It’s different for every player,” big man Kelly Olynyk said. “Obviously for the young guys, you want to get out here and get experience and show the organization, the franchise and the rest of the league what you can do. For an older player, you just continue to build and grow chemistry. For me, it’s trying to build inside this system and get some chemistry and cohesiveness with these guys heading into next year.”
The Thunder‘s win in Boston on Wednesday was “a window into the versatility that makes (them) so unstoppable,” according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic, who says Oklahoma City continues to convincingly answer every question asked about the team’s legitimacy as a title contender.

Wolves Didn’t Offer Jaden McDaniels In Kevin Durant Trade Talks

March 14th, 2025 at 12:11pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Timberwolves were aggressive in trying to land Kevin Durant before last month’s trade deadline, but their offers to the Suns didn’t include Anthony Edwards or Jaden McDaniels, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Scotto’s sources say Minnesota wanted to build the deal around power forward Julius Randle and shooting guard Donte DiVincenzo, both of whom were acquired from New York last October in the Karl-Anthony Towns trade.

The Wolves are expected to continue their pursuit of Durant this summer, but Randle would have to pick up his $30.9MM player option before he could be included in trade talks. Scotto notes that Minnesota has won the last 11 games in which Randle has played, while DiVincenzo, who is signed through the 2026/27 season, is shooting 39.4% from three-point range and averaging a career-best 3.7 assists per game.

It’s worth noting that the Wolves were operating more than $16MM above the second tax apron and Durant’s $51.2MM salary is about $7MM more than Randle and DiVincenzo combined, so they would have needed to trim over $20MM in additional salary to make the deal possible, since teams above the second apron can’t aggregate salaries.

Assuming Rudy Gobert was also off the table, Minnesota would have needed to part with either Naz Reid and Mike Conley or Reid and several lower-paid players. At least one additional team would have been necessary because Phoenix is also over the second apron and couldn’t take back more salary than it sent out in any deal.

Any version of the trade would have been difficult to complete without including McDaniels’ $23MM salary. The 24-year-old forward is averaging 12.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game this season and is an important part of Minnesota’s defense.

The Suns expressed interest in Reid during trade talks, sources tell Scotto. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year has a $15MM player option for next season that he’s expected to decline, but the Wolves intend to sign him to a long-term deal, Scotto’s sources add.

Northwest Notes: Jazz, Porter, Gordon, Conley

March 10th, 2025 at 8:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Jazz have four players with non-guaranteed contract for next season — KJ Martin, Svi Mykhailiuk, Jaden Springer and Johnny Juzang. Will they retain any of them?

Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune examines each player’s case, concluding that their futures depend on what else the Jazz do with their roster this summer and whether they’ll have trade value if their contracts are retained. Springer, for example, hasn’t played much, while Mykhailuk has already passed through a number of organizations.

We have more from the Northwest Division:

The Nuggets have only lost four games since the beginning of February and all have come against playoff-bound clubs – the Lakers, Bucks, Celtics and Thunder. Forward Michael Porter Jr. says they have to be more efficient against the elite teams in order to win the championship. “Things that you get away with against mediocre teams are not things that you’re going to get away with against the best teams,” he told Bennett Durando of the Denver Post (Twitter link). “And I think that we haven’t done a good job this year at winning those games against some of the top teams.”
Forward Aaron Gordon wasn’t available for the Nuggets when they faced the Thunder again tonight. He was out due to right calf injury management and a left ankle sprain, Vinny Benedetto of the Denver Gazette tweets. Gordon left the matchup against the Thunder on Sunday during the first quarter due to calf tightness, Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman tweets.
Mike Conley was reinserted into the starting lineup against Miami on Friday ahead of Donte DiVincenzo. It turned out to be a good move by Timberwolves coach Chris Finch, as Conley produced 15 points in 25 minutes, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic notes. Conley remained in the lineup against San Antonio and turned in another sharp performance with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists with no turnovers in 23 minutes. Conley has one year remaining on his two-year, $20.75MM contract.

Northwest Notes: Nnaji, DiVincenzo, Clark, Avdija

February 26th, 2025 at 11:00pm CST by Rory Maher

Big man Zeke Nnaji has largely been outside of the Nuggets‘ rotation in 2024/25. However, a knee injury to Peyton Watson has opened up minutes at backup power forward, and Nnaji has been performing well of late, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscriber link).

“This is probably the first time in a while that he has an opportunity to play big minutes, important minutes and a lot of minutes. He’s good,” Nikola Jokic said of Nnaji. “He’s decisive. When he’s open, he shoots. He’s aggressive. He’s attacking the boards. He’s still probably trying to kind of figure it out, but I think he’s doing a really good job.”

Nnaji, 24, was involved in trade rumors leading up to the deadline earlier this month in part because he has fifth-highest salary on the team. General manager Calvin Booth later confirmed that Nnaji came up in trade talks, but since he was rarely playing, his long-term contract was almost certainly viewed as a negative asset.

With Watson sidelined and Nnaji playing his preferred position, he has averaged 7.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.0 steal and 1.4 blocks on .566/.368/.700 shooting over the past 10 games (21.4 minutes per contest). Would Michael Malone be comfortable turning to Nnaji for spot minutes if he’s needed in the postseason?

“Without getting too far ahead of ourselves, just continue to be present,” Malone said when asked if there’s a path to playoff minutes. “Continue to be in the moment. And I think Zeke’s done that. Ever since Peyton Watson went out, Zeke’s been called upon. … He’s stayed ready. He’s gone out there and done his job. And he’s shown that he belongs out there. So I have all the confidence in the world if I have to call upon Zeke Nnaji at any point the remainder of this season, I feel really confident about doing that. And so do his teammates. I think that’s even more important.”

Here’s more from the Northwest:

Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo has been out since Jan. 15 due to a left great toe sprain, but he has a chance to return to action soon. He’s officially listed as questionable for Thursday’s contest at the Lakers, the Wolves announced (via Twitter). ESPN’s Shams Charania reported earlier this week that both DiVincenzo and Julius Randle (right groin strain) could return at some point this week. Randle will be out Thursday, with two additional games (at Utah on Friday, at Phoenix on Sunday) scheduled on Minnesota’s road trip.
Jaylen Clark will reportedly be converted from a two-way contract to a standard deal, with Bones Hyland taking Clark’s old two-way spot. Asked about his impending promotion on Wednesday, the Timberwolves guard said he was thrilled by the news, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune (Twitter link). “I love being in Minnesota, I’m excited,” Clark said. “It feels like I’m officially a part of everything. I can play in the playoffs. It’s been cool. The journey has been long, but it’s been well worthwhile.”
Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija sustained a quad injury in the first half of Wednesday’s win in Washington. After initially being listed as questionable to return, he was later ruled out for the remainder of the contest (Twitter link). It’s unclear if the injury will cause Avdija to miss additional time, but hopefully it’s good news that he wasn’t immediately ruled out.

Timberwolves’ Randle, DiVincenzo Could Return During Road Trip

February 23rd, 2025 at 9:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Timberwolves are embarking on a four-game road tilt that tips off Monday in Oklahoma City and wraps up on Sunday against Phoenix.

Shams Charania of ESPN reports (Twitter video link) that Minnesota could be getting some reinforcements during that stretch, with starting forward Julius Randle and starting point guard Donte DiVincenzo primed to return from long-term injuries.

Randle has been on the shelf with a groin injury since January 30. As Charania notes, the Timberwolves had gone 10-4 during their last 14 contests with Randle available, including a five-game win streak.

Randle, 30, has struggled somewhat to adjust to his new environs during his first season with Minnesota. In 48 healthy contests, the 6’9″ forward is averaging 18.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

DiVincenzo has been sidelined since January 15 due to a toe ailment. The Villanova alum was elevated to the starting lineup in his last six games before his injury absence and averaged 17.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.5 steals per contest during that stretch.

Reigning Defensive Player of the Year Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, meanwhile, has been on the shelf since February 12 with a back injury and will not be back during this road trip.

Minnesota’s injury woes and general chemistry issues have led the club to a middling 31-26 record on the year so far, good for just the West’s No. 7 seed.