Tag: Donte DiVincenzo

Kings’ Donte DiVincenzo reportedly a free agency target for the Boston Celtics

The 25-year-old wing has struggled to stay healthy recently but could be a solid option for wing depth if he can stay on the floor.

The Boston Celtics reportedly have their sights on another young wing to use their $6.4 million mini- midlevel exception (MLE) on for the coming 2022-23 NBA season who last played for the Sacramento Kings, according to the Boston Herald’s Mark Murphy.

Per the Herald reporter, “Donte DiVincenzo, now a free agent after Sacramento decided not to extend a qualifying offer to the talented wing player, is stacking up as another Celtics target.” Wing scorers are evidently the focus for Boston in free agency, should reports that the team has also been interested in TJ Warren and Danilo Gallinari.

Traded to the Kings from the Milwaukee Bucks as part of a four-team trade at the 2022 trade deadline, the 6-foot-4 Villanova product has struggled with injury throughout his career, never playing in more than 66 games in a season and just 42 in 2021-22.

His shooting efficiency was notably poor overall last season as well, though he managed to shoot 36.8% from deep with Sacramento in his final 25 games of the season.

A solid defender with a 6-foot-6 wingspan, DiVincenzo would also help improve depth on that end of the court, though the key element moving forward to the Delaware native being worth the team’s MLE is of course how healthy he will be while on it.

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Don’t forget: Donte DiVincenzo was already traded to the Kings once in a voided deal back in 2020

For the first deal on the day of the NBA trade deadline, the Milwaukee Bucks traded 25-year-old guard Donte DiVincenzo to the Sacramento Kings.

For the first deal on the day of the NBA trade deadline, the Milwaukee Bucks traded 25-year-old guard Donte DiVincenzo to the Sacramento Kings.

That deal doesn’t have too many massive basketball implications for the reigning champions except to confirm that Grayson Allen is a solid piece in their rotation. But it is particularly interesting because it’s not the first time the Bucks have agreed to trade DiVincenzo to the Kings.

Back in Nov. 2020, Milwaukee actually agreed to a sign-and-trade sending DiVincenzo (among other pieces) to Sacramento in exchange for free agent wing Bogdan Bogdanovic.

The trade was voided, however, after the league found the Bucks guilty of tampering to land Bogdanovic. After the investigation, Milwaukee was forced to forfeit the rights to their second-round pick in the upcoming 2022 NBA draft.

Bogdanovic went on to join the Hawks and DiVincenzo, despite the awkward scenario, actually stayed with the Bucks.

The former Villanova standout even started all 66 games that he played for Milwaukee in 2021-22. However, he suffered a severe left ankle injury and only played three postseason games in Milwaukee’s pursuit of the title.

Upon his return this season, DiVincenzo lost his spot in the first unit. The majority of his counting stats are significantly lower than they have been since his first season in the league.

However, based on today’s trade, it is clear that Sacramento’s front office never lost interest in the two-time collegiate national champion.

The Kings, after trading Tyrese Haliburton to the Indiana Pacers, will have plenty of opportunities for DiVincenzo to recoup some of the value he had lost thus far this season before he enters restricted free agent this offseason.

Now in the Western Conference, he will have a chance to show Sacramento’s front office exactly what they liked about him when they tried to acquire him back in Nov. 2020.

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Report: Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks ‘keeping in touch’ on a Dennis Schroder – Donte DiVincenzo swap

Can the two parties strike a deal?

The Boston Celtics might just end up with the Big Ragu on their roster by the time the dust settles on the 2022 NBA trade deadline. According to Celtics Blog’s Keith Smith, the Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks “are still keeping in touch regarding a Dennis Schroder – Donte DiVincenzo swap” because “Milwaukee is a little worried about (point guard) depth with George Hill currently out.”

Still, Boston “won’t add players or picks to Schroder,” which is presumably the primary obstacle to getting DiVincenzo into a Celtics uniform. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard is a little bit of a downgrade in terms of scoring ability and also on a one-year contract, but Boston would get his Bird Rights and a player closer to the age curve of their primary core at 25 years old.

One way or another, the front office has until 3 pm ET today, Thursday Feb. 10 to start the call for any deals they want to make, so it won’t be long until this saga has a resolution of some sort.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Players who didn’t extend and are headed to restricted free agency

Here’s a look at those players that will be headed to restricted free agency in 2022 after the rookie-scale extension deadline passed.

The rookie-scale extension deadline has passed with a flurry of extensions for the 2018 draft class. Eleven players were extended, including four players signing maximum extensions. These extensions combine for a total of $1.146 billion in guaranteed money.

Twelve players on rookie-scale contracts that were extension-eligible did not extend and it will be interesting to see how the 2022 free agent market shakes out for them. There are now only 4 teams that can generate significant cap space next offseason, which explains why so many players extended now. Here’s a look at those players that will be headed to restricted free agency in 2022.

Pat Connaughton NBA Tracker: Eastern Conference quarterfinals

See how Notre Dame’s lone NBA representative did during the first round of the playoffs.

Pat Connaughton and the Milwaukee Bucks won a close Game 1 against the Miami Heat in the first round of the NBA playoffs. The Bucks had little trouble the rest of the series, breezing to a four-game sweep of the defending Eastern Conference champions. The series not only gave the Bucks some rest ahead of their second-round series, but it potentially opened an opportunity for Connaughton for the rest of the playoffs, albeit at a cost. More on that in a moment.

Connaughton was the Buck who played the least in Game 1’s overtime win. In 10 minutes, he made one field goal, grabbed four rebounds and committed his only turnover of the series. Game 2 was Connaughton’s best of the series, scoring 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. He added three more 3-pointers in Game 3, and Game 4 gave him one field goal and five rebounds in his first start in 42 career playoff games.

Connaughton averaged 7.0 points and 3.8 assists a game on 45.5 percent shooting from the field. It’s possible he’ll be starting more because the Bucks have lost starting shooting guard Donte DiVincenzo for the rest of the playoffs after injuring a tendon in his foot in Game 3. Whether coach Mike Budenholzer wants Connaughton to be DiVincenzo’s replacement starter for the rest of the playoffs or not, Connaughton will need to be more consistent at a position that demands a lot of scoring. Having to start doing this come playoff time won’t be easy, but it has to be done for the Bucks to get further than the conference semifinals.

The HoopsHype Weekly: The Top 10 X-Factor players for the 2020 NBA playoffs

HoopsHype chooses and ranks 10 X-Factor type players who might come out of nowhere and come up huge in the upcoming 2020 playoffs.

You can get this content every Saturday morning in your email inbox. Click here to subscribe to the HoopsHype Weekly newsletter.

TOP 10 PLAYOFF X-FACTORS: At times, players come out of nowhere in the playoffs and elevate their games, giving their teams the unexpected push they needed to win a vital game or two.

Who could those players be at the Orlando bubble playoffs? Below, we rank our Top 10:

10. Dion Waiters: Averaging 11.9 points and 2.4 assists in the bubble, Waiters never runs low on self-confidence and has the capability to get hot at a moment’s notice. The Lakers could certainly use his perimeter scoring in the playoffs, and his drive-and-kick game remains underrated.

9. Seth Curry: The younger Curry brother is an elite outside shooter in his own right, and his knockdown prowess from three-point range could come up huge for Dallas against the favored Clippers in the first round.

8. Andre Roberson: In his first action since a year-plus-long injury recovery, the Colorado product averaged merely 2.8 points in the bubble, but did knock down a healthy 37.5 percent of his three-point looks. Against a high-powered offense in Houston in Round 1, Roberson’s defensive chops will be hugely important for OKC’s chances.

7. Donte DiVincenzo: A non-star player stepping up for the Bucks in the playoffs would be almost unfair considering how loaded they are as is, but if anyone can do it, it’s DiVincenzo, thanks to his competitiveness, his confident nature and his ability to get hot quick.

6. Eric Gordon: With Russell Westbrook set to miss time with a quad injury, Gordon will be even more important for Houston’s chances in the postseason. Gordon has dealt with his own injury troubles this year, including recently, but he’s going to need to be ready to go as soon as the postseason rolls around.

5. Norman Powell: Powell stepping up wouldn’t be a new thing, as he’s been solid for Toronto all year long, averaging 16.0 points this season while shooting 39.6 percent from three. But if he can elevate his production even more in the playoffs, the Raptors would be getting a much-needed boost to their offense in the bubble.

4. Tyler Herro: The bucket-getting 2-guard has had a solid rookie season, but seems to be taking his play to an even higher level in the bubble, where he’s averaging 19.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists over his last six games while slashing fiery 53.9/39.4/100.0 shooting splits. If he can maintain that level of production, Miami will be a tough out in the postseason.

3. Mike Conley: The Jazz point guard came into this season with huge expectations, as many thought he’d give Utah the dynamic point guard they’d been missing. To this point, however, that hasn’t really been the case. The playoffs will be a good chance for Conley to live up to the hype, especially with Bojan Bogdanovic out for the rest of the year.

2. Al Horford: Without Ben Simmons available, Horford was reinstated into Philadelphia’s starting lineup this week, and he’s going to need to be in top form for the Sixers to make a deep playoff push without their star point guard.

1. Michael Porter: The young, exciting swingman was sensational in the bubble, averaging over 22 points and eight rebounds per game while shooting north of 42 percent from three. If Denver is going to make a run in the postseason, he’s going to need to keep up that level of production, especially with Gary Harris and Will Barton not showing signs of returning any time soon.

MAJOR RETURN: It looks like the Clippers will have their Sixth Man of the Year candidate big man Montrezl Harrell available for the playoffs, which was not a sure thing as recently as yesterday morning.

ANOTHER COACHING FIRING: After an uncomfortably long wait, the Bulls finally announced that they would, in fact, be firing head coach Jim Boylen after two seasons on the job. Boylen went 39-84 in that stretch, but even beyond that, had various public, odd slip-ups while in Chicago.

Kenny Atkinson, Ime Udoka and Adrian Griffin will be among the Bulls’ top candidates to take over the job.

FREE-AGENT FORESHADOWING? Without hinting as to who he could be thinking about, Jimmy Butler confidently told ESPN he expects another star to join him on the Heat.

TOP TARGET: After last year’s fireworks, the Nets will have a quieter offseason over the coming months. Nevertheless, one order of business they’ll need to take care of is re-signing Joe Harris, which GM Sean Marks called their top priority.

Harris was the league’s 157th-highest-paid player this year, a number that will undoubtedly rise as soon as he signs his next deal.

BARKLEY TO BARSTOOL? After making huge waves in the media world this week by hiring NFL legend Deion Sanders, Barstool Sports president Dave Portnoy has his eyes on picking up Charles Barkley next. We’ll see what TNT has to say about that.

BUBBLE MVP RANKINGS: With the seeding games wrapped up, we ranked the Top 10 bubble MVP candidates. No. 1 is pretty obvious.

FRESH POD: Myles Turner joined our own Michael Scotto this week for a new edition of the HoopsHype podcast. The two talked about a variety of topics, including Victor Oladipo free-agency rumors, life in the bubble and dating.

MEDIA FOLLOWINGS: We ranked popular NBA media Twitter accounts by which ones had the highest number of NBA players following them. Somewhat surprisingly, Woj did not come in first.

30 AWARD CANDIDATES: We chose the top candidate for an end-of-season award from every single team. Some are a bit more plausible than others.

WINNING PLAYERS: NBA teams are lucky in that landing a single star player can lift up their entire team. To take a deeper look at that, we ranked various players by how much they elevated their teams’ winning percentages while they were on the roster.