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When the 2022-23 season starts, the Golden State Warriors will be the third team Donte DiVincenzo has played for in the past year. Last season, DiVincenzo was in the middle of his fourth year with the Milwaukee Bucks when he was traded to the Sacramento Kings. After the Kings decided not to keep him, DiVincenzo signed with the Warriors to be their next reclamation project.
In a one-on-one interview with Anthony Slater of The Athletic, DiVincenzo revealed that he initially believed another team was going to get him before he was sent to the Kings mid-season: the Boston Celtics.
“When the trade deadline came, I didn’t know what to expect,” he told Slater. “I’d heard a ton of rumors. I was in a place where, you know, I loved playing with those guys, but mentally I did wonder if a change of scenery would help. Because I was going into free agency as well. I was still focused on both sides of things. So when I got traded, I was all over the place. Is this great? Is this bad? I thought I was going to Boston.”
DiVincenzo then revealed that he thought he was going to be traded for Dennis Schroder while not knowing why a deal to Boston never came to fruition.
“I think I was supposed to go for Dennis Schröder to Boston. I don’t know what happened. Somebody might’ve wanted too much. But that was my impression, that I was going to Boston. The Sacramento one came out of nowhere.”
Why the Boston Trade Never Happened
Jared Weiss of The Athletic reported on February 8 that the Celtics had indeed offered Schroder for DiVincenzo but explained why the two sides did not agree to a deal.
“Over the weekend, Boston offered Schröder to Milwaukee for Donte DiVincenzo, which the Bucks countered asking for Grant Williams, sources with knowledge of the discussions told The Athletic. Though sources said the Celtics balked at the offer, the teams continue to explore frameworks that include Williams.”
Williams, of course, remains on the team, while Schroder was included in a trade to the Houston Rockets that sent Daniel Theis back to the Celtics. Not only that, but Williams’ performance in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, in which he scored 27 points while hitting seven threes, played a role in helping the Celtics eliminate the Bucks to move on to the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals.
Had the Celtics included Williams in a potential DiVincenzo trade, who knows what kind of ramifications that could have had on their playoff run?
DiVincenzo’s Numbers Last Season
While DiVincenzo’s numbers last season remained mostly the same as it has throughout his career – nine points, four rebounds, 2.8 assists – his efficiency from the field took a sizable hit during the 2021-22 season, as he shot 35.1 percent from the field and 33.9 percent from three, according to Basketball-Reference.
That is a far cry from his percentages during the 2020-21 season, where he shot 42 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from three while putting up 10.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists a game.
DiVincenzo was signed by the Warriors in the hopes of him replacing what the departed Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr. brought to the team last season.
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