With Donte DiVincenzo’s player-option with the Golden State Warriors looming large, speculation has swirled that the 26-year-old might be finding a new home this summer.
His college teammate at Villanova, Josh Hart, recently alluded to his hopes of having DiVincenzo join him on the New York Knicks. Hart joked (but probably not really joked) with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks he’s trying to recruit Villanova guys to New York.
“There’s Nova guys that I’m trying to get to N.Y.,” Hart said laughing.
Rooks then prompted Hart about a tweet he’d liked that labeled DiVincenzo as “the shooting that the Knicks need.”
Hart continued to laugh and just said, “That’s my guy, you know what I mean. I was talking to him just the other day.”
Hart’s Knicks had a solid second-half of their season, making a push for the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, eliminating the Cleveland Cavaliers in the opening round of the playoffs, before eventually falling to the Eastern Conference Champion Miami Heat in Round 2.
Donte DiVincenzo Predicted to Leave Warriors
DiVincenzo’s departure seems to be a forgone conclusion amongst members of the media. Golden State quite simply doesn’t have the cap space to resign him, and will likely be priced out by other teams around the league.
In a recent article for The Athletic, John Hollinger predicted that DiVincenzo would “seek greener pastures” this summer.
“The lesser version of the Bruce Brown story, DiVincenzo rehabbed his free-agent value as a productive sixth man on a playoff team and now is likely to have offers for the midlevel exception or more awaiting him,” Hollinger wrote. “He assuredly will opt out of his below-market deal and seek greener pastures.”
Hollinger did make a good point, the Warriors took advantage of DiVincenzo’s spotty 2021-22 season, where he appeared in just 42 games combined for the Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings. Golden State was then able to ink him to a mid-level exception contract, which nets him just $4.7 million per year.
DiVincenzo certainly has raised his value after piecing together an impressive season for the Warriors, where he appeared in 72 games, and started in 36 of them. He averaged 9.4 points on 52.5% shooting from the field and a career-high 39.7% from beyond the arc. Those numbers could be enough to convince another team to price the Dubs out of re-signing him.
Jazz Pinned As Possible Landing Spot for Warriors’ Donte DiVincenzo
Again, Hollinger isn’t the only one who believes that DiVincenzo is headed out the door. Early last month, Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley broke down the futures of all three of the Dubs’ potential impending free agents (DiVincenzo, Draymond Green, and JaMychal Green), sharing predictions about where they’d be playing ball next season.
“Well, he proved plenty during his first—and potentially last—season with the Warriors. In fact, he had such a productive run that declining the $4.7 million player option he holds for 2023-24, per Spotrac, feels like a no-brainer… Plenty of teams could use his win-now talents. Too many of them, actually, for the Warriors to afford to bring him back,” he wrote of DiVincenzo.
He later gave his official prediction of where the versatile guard would end up signing, pointing to the Utah Jazz.
“Prediction: DiVincenzo declines player option and signs with the Utah Jazz.”
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Knicks Wing Teases Team Up With Warriors’ Donte DiVincenzo in New York