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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.
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.
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Including DiVincenzo in the trade crushed Rose, team sources said. Rose loved the way DiVincenzo, the fourth Villanova Knick, played and understood how losing him would affect personal relationships on the team. But Minnesota wouldn't do the trade without him, and Rose believed Towns would be a perfect complement for Brunson's skill set. Rose took no public questions on the trade, but he called DiVincenzo to inform the guard of the trade, according to sources on both sides of the transaction.
After the Timberwolves lost Nickeil Alexander-Walker last summer in free agency -- and after the 27-year-old guard was named 2026 Most Improved Player with the Atlanta Hawks -- Minnesota simply cannot afford to let Ayo Dosunmu walk. That's why sources around the league expect he will be back with the Wolves, but for a price slightly above the midlevel exception (roughly $15 million), which is what most rival teams could offer. Doing so might require Minnesota to move off Donte DiVincenzo, who will miss at least most of next season with a torn right Achilles, to avoid going into the second luxury tax apron.
It is far too early in the recovery process to predict when Donte DiVincenzo will return to action. Tearing an Achilles tendon is among the most serious injuries in the game, often keeping players out for a year or more. Boston’s Jayson Tatum returned in less than 10 months, but that is considered an outlier. Still, DiVincenzo is trying to follow Tatum’s lead. He flew to New York for surgery less than 24 hours after suffering the injury, following a similar timeline that Tatum went through. DiVincenzo has spoken to Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton and Damian Lillard, all of whom have recently suffered the same injury, about their recoveries. “I just asked a million questions, and they’ve all helped me in different ways,” DiVincenzo said. “But all their journeys are different.”
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Several within the Timberwolves organization believe DiVincenzo could return at some point next season. The question is how much can he be expected to give? Tatum played remarkably well after returning this season, but he suffered a couple of injuries to his calf and knee in the playoffs and missed Boston’s Game 7 loss to Philadelphia.
In two short years, he has stitched himself into the fabric of this team and this city. And he can’t wait to be back. “Just knowing that you’re being thought of, you’re loved, it helps you, it gives you the motivation to want to get back,” DiVincenzo said. “There’s nothing more that motivates me than trying to get in front of and play in front of our fans.”
Jon Krawczynski: "You could say that you could try to trade Donte DiVincenzo as part of a bigger package for a Giannis, for someone else, and just kind of then you're off of that kind of underwater salary right now. But when you saw in Game 6 against Denver in the first round when every player on the Wolves roster wore a DiVincenzo jersey to the arena, you know what he means to this team. So there is a bit of morality that comes into play with a decision like this. I don't think that the Timberwolves want to trade Donte DiVincenzo. I think they want to keep him around, they want to help him rehab. They want to get him back fully going and then maybe by towards the end of next season, he's back on the court with the Timberwolves."
Jon Krawczynski: Donte DiVincenzo says he’s spoken to Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton and Damian Lillard about the process of coming back from an Achilles. “They’ve all helped me in different ways and all their journeys are different.”
