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Donte DiVincenzo: "Half this rehab is just a mental battle. So when you get confirmation or affirmation from the doctor and you're feeling good, but when you hear the doctor say that you are good and you can progress and you can keep doing more, then all of a sudden mentally you just feel like, oh I got more in me. And you start to push a little bit more without being scared. Basically his words match how I'm feeling."
Jon Krawzynski: The Timberwolves will have their usual season opening theater as part of the introductions. Every player will be announced, except for Donte DiVincenzo. The team and Donte agreed that they want his first announcement to be when he returns to the court to play.
Donte DiVincenzo: "I don't look at anything in terms of timeline of, oh, at week 21 I'll be running or whatever like that. I looked at it as, we sat down and we said, all right, these are your criteria that you need to hit in order to do the next phase. So for me, I'm goal-driven. So I'm looking at it like, okay, I got to calf raise this much or I got to iso hold this much in order to run or in order to walk. And that was better for me versus looking at it at week 21 you're going to run. Well, if week 21 rolls around and you're not ready to run, now you have a mental battle that you're fighting yourself with."
“There (are) a lot of battles in sports that aren’t the physical ones,” he said. “It starts with the physical and then turns into the mental side. So, just (showing) that there is light at the end of the tunnel. As vulnerable as I am, I can tell you I’m as driven and as confident. “I’m probably way more confident than my surgeon, the trainer, the coach, everybody. I will push that envelope as much as I possibly can.”
Tim Connelly: "Donte (DiVincenzo) looks great. As you guys all know, Donte attacks everything like he attacks the court. I thought our medical staff and his agents did a great job of quickly getting it addressed. He was under the knife 24 hours after the surgery. He looks as good as we'd hoped. We don't want to put any added pressure on him, but we're cautious and optimistic that we're going to see Donte this season and we know how much he brings to our team."
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NBA Trade Machine: Donte DiVincenzo was part of 10.6% of the trades built on HoopsMatic over the past 24 hours. Of those trades, his top destinations were Memphis (12.3%), New Orleans (11.7%), and Toronto (11.7%). The most common players sent back for him were Collin Murray-Boyles (11.1%), Ja'Kobe Walter (7.6%), and Trayce Jackson-Davis (7.6%).
Darren 'Doogie' Wolfson: "Iif they head into the season with pretty much this roster, they can make a move in season. That Josh Green expiring contract can be valuable. Maybe they change their tune on the Donte DiVincenzo expiring contract. Now, I would tell you right now, there's interest in signing DiVincenzo to an extension having Dante here the next few years. But it's not like they're married to that idea."
Jon Krawczynski: The Wolves do still have other moves in the works. They need a power forward and they need more shooting. I am told that they are not trading Donte DiVincenzo. The work continues.
Sam Quinn: If Minnesota is keeping Donte DiVincenzo, they somehow have to turn Josh Green's $14.7 million salary into a playable power forward. Without draft picks, they might have to include Terrence Shannon to do so. But that's the next order of business here.
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Minnesota has maintained that perimeter defensive ace Jaden McDaniels is off limits in trade conversations. Sources say that the Wolves also prefer to "do right" by injured guard Donte DiVincenzo and keep the Villanova product out of their offseason business after he sustained a devastating torn Achilles during Minnesota's first-round playoff victory over Denver. The Wolves, sources say, would also prefer not to part with 2024-25 Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid, but it is difficult to see how they could construct a credible trade offer for Ball without including Reid or fellow big man Rudy Gobert.
Yossi Gozlan: The Wolves can expand the Julius Randle trade to acquire LaMelo Ball. They'd want to do a 100 percent salary match so they can exceed the first apron, which can be done by including Donte DiVincenzo. Then it's about adding draft picks & young players to incentivize Charlotte.
