The Minnesota Timberwolves quickly shut down a trade inquiry on sharpshooter Donte DiVincenzo from their Western Conference rivals Los Angeles Lakers, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints reports.
“Los Angeles also reached out to the Minnesota Timberwolves about Donte DiVincenzo‘s availability, but the Wolves were not interested at all, sources said,” Siegel wrote on July 21.
That was before the Lakers landed Marcus Smart from the buyout market with the help of their new franchise player Luka Doncic. The Lakers do not have an enticing asset except for their 2031 or 2032 first-round pick. But the Timberwolves are in a win-now mode, which is why they traded their 2031 first-round pick for Rob Dillingham in last year’s NBA draft.
DiVincenzo has become indispensable after Nickeil Walker-Alexander bolted out of Minnesota to land a lucrative free agent deal in Atlanta. Unless it’s for a star, DiVincenzo will remain in Minnesota.
And they refused to help the Lakers, whom they foiled in the first round of the playoffs last season.
Getty Donte DiVincenzo of the Minnesota Timberwolves shoots the ball against Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers in the first quarter of Game Four of the First Round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
The 28-year-old DiVincenzo averaged 11.7 points, 3.6 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 39.7% from the 3-point line last season for the Timberwolves. He will take on a much bigger role without Walker-Alexander.
Before he was traded to the Timberwolves, the 6-foot-4 Italian-American guard had his best year in the NBA with the New York Knicks during the 2023-24 season, averaging a career-best 15.5 points on 40.1% 3-point shooting.
DiVincenzo has become a solid off-ball defender, filling in the gaps while hitting consistently from the perimeter.
Timberwolves Offered Donte DiVincenzo for Kevin Durant
While the Timberwolves quickly rejected the Lakers’ inquiry, they have included DiVincenzo in the Rudy Gobert-led package for Kevin Durant that did not materialize, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
The Suns “had in-depth discussions” with the Timberwolves on a Durant trade before they accepted the Houston Rockets‘ offer.
Aside from Gobert and DiVincenzo, the Timberwolves would have sent promising forward Terrence Shannon Jr. and the 17th pick of this year’s NBA draft to the Suns for Durant, Windhorst reported, citing sources.
“But Durant had made it known that the Wolves were not on his short list of preferred teams. And with just one season left on his contract, Durant had leverage. The talks faded,” Windhorst wrote.
Unlike Doncic, Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards distanced himself from the talks and did not recruit Durant, his all-time favorite player, to join him in Minnesota.
Durant is a two-time champion whom the Timberwolves believed could have carried them over the hump. They have reached the Western Conference Finals in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history. But twice they fell short.
Damian Lillard Chose Portland Over Minnesota
After the Durant trade talks fizzled out, the Timberwolves kept swinging to add a legitimate star via the buyout market.
But they kept on missing.
According to ESPN’s senior NBA insider Shams Charania, the Timberwolves were one of the two teams that ended up as runners-up in the Damian Lillard sweepstakes.
“Over a dozen teams made minimum and mid-level exception offers to Damian Lillard. Two teams in particular, I’m told, that Damian Lillard really considered, and that’s the Boston Celtics and the Minnesota Timberwolves,” Charania said on “NBA Today” on July 18. “He held calls with both teams at different points.”
It was the third miss for the Timberwolves, who also pursued three-time All-Star Bradley Beal.
Thus, the Timberwolves will run it back next season minus Walker-Alexander, who bolted to Atlanta for a four-year, $62 million deal, which they could not match.
Timberwolves Nix Lakers’ Pitch, Sharpshooter Now Off-Limits