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Donte DiVincenzo opened up about his surprisingly short Kings tenure

DDV was candid but didn't bash the Kings.
By | 24 Comments | Oct 6, 2022

Mar 16, 2022; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Donte DiVincenzo (0) gestures after scoring a three point basket against the Milwaukee Bucks during the fourth quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The Donte DiVincenzo era in Sacramento was confusing, to say the least.

The Sacramento Kings first tried to acquire DDV as part of a sign and trade involving Bogdan Bogdanovic in November of 2019. The deal was done, but was agreed upon (and, more importantly, leaked to the public) too early, violating league rules. The deal was called off and the Milwaukee Bucks lost a second round pick for tampering.

So when the Kings finally acquired DiVincenzo as part of a trade deadline deal sending out Marvin Bagley III in February of 2022, it seemed like Monte McNair had landed a piece he intended to build around going forward. And yet less than six months later the Kings renounced Donte’s restricted free agent rights and pivoted instead to signing Malik Monk and trading for Kevin Huerter.

Now, after signing with the Golden State Warriors and on the cusp of the new season, Donte DiVincenzo opened up to The Athletic in a wide ranging interview discussing his career trajectory, including his Kings tenure.

Unlike some exit interviews we’ve seen with other former Kings, DDV seems to harbor no ill-will towards the Kings, and seems almost as confused by the whole sequence of events as we are. Donte began by dissuading any notions that his Kings tenure was a bad experience:

“That’s the thing. The Kings have this, I guess, reputation with the playoff drought, this and that. People say things aren’t how they’re supposed to be. I had a lot of great experiences there. There’s always so much turnover and transition, it’s hard — one for players, the other for coaches — it’s hard to build that trust and that framework when people are going out the door.

“But I’d thought I found my home. Domas (Sabonis) and I were always together, talking about what we are going to build in the future. It was super fun. The guys were extremely cool. But it goes back to how I play basketball and me viewing it in my head as ‘the right way.’ That’s playing with Giannis and Jrue and Khris. But it’s not like that every place. There’s only four or five places like that.”

“So I went to Sac and they just had a different way to play basketball I had to adjust. It wasn’t wrong, wasn’t right. I was just figuring out the way they play.”

I feel like this is a very fair assessment of the Kings by Donte. I don’t feel it’s unreasonable to say the Kings played a different style of basketball than DDV was accustomed to. Coming from a franchise that had won a championship and was still in contention for another, and transitioning to a team that had fired their head coach early in the year and were running out the clock with interim head coach Alvin Gentry – DDV is probably being kind in saying that what the Kings were running wasn’t bad, just different.

It’s also a little sad to hear how quickly Donte had bonded with Sabonis, only to have that cut short. Donte goes on to tell the Athletic that he understood that in free agency anything can happen, but Donte’s quotes read like a player who fully expected to return to Sacramento and had embraced the idea of that future, despite reports we hear suggesting he was unhappy with his role at the end of last season. When talking about the result of becoming an unrestricted free agent, Donte told the Athletic:

“Mixed emotions,” DiVincenzo said. “Now I’m unrestricted and I can pick where I want to go, but then you have the other side, like, ‘Damn, they didn’t want me? Do they still want me? Are they trying to do something with a cap hold or whatever?’ I didn’t understand all that stuff. But my mind was just open, spinning, hectic for a couple days.”

Ultimately Donte seems fine with how things worked out. And why wouldn’t he? No matter how optimistic he might have been about the Kings future and his partnership with Sabonis, DDV finds himself in an ideal situation. He may have preferred a longer, more lucrative contract than the 2-year, $9.2 million deal he signed with Golden State. But his second year is a player option, and DDV is once again on a championship contender with the opportunity to prove his value and his free agency again next summer.

Over the course of the playoff drought we’ve seen plenty of players come through the rotating doors of the Kings organization. We hope each player might be part of the solution, and we’ve heard plenty of players bash the organization when they couldn’t end the drought. I appreciate that Donte didn’t do that when everyone would have understood if he had. It seems that DiVincenzo is as confused as the rest of us as to why exactly the Kings pursued him in multiple trade packages and then quickly moved on to other players. We may never know the full story, unless Monte McNair pulls back the curtain someday.

Whatever the reasons, this is one of the nicer post-Kings interviews I’ve seen about the organization. I’ll be rooting for the Warriors to struggle in the sense that they’re a Pacific Division rival, but I’ll continue to wish for the best for Donte DiVincenzo.

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nogods69
October 6, 2022 7:20 am

yeah, that whole saga is just confusing. I am still not sure why they didn’t retain him, but maybe both sides figured out in that short time it just wasn’t going to be the right fit?

Kingsguru21
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October 6, 2022 8:32 am

The problem was, as I see it, was that Dante expected to start right away. And when that didn’t happen, that was a problem due to his QO being lowered about 1.3M over what it would have been had he started every game after the trade. (Note: This is also true in Milwaukee where they didn’t start him either and played him almost 10 MPG less than Sac did.)

So if you’re Sac, or McNair really, why keep DDV on the QO? QO players are hard to trade, and players and teams alike avoid them. Smartly, I might add. Especially when DDV’s camp was squawking about the Kings keeping DDV from qualifying for the starter criteria through media like Ham. I’m still confused on why they were complaining or what they thought they were gaining.

Dante wanted to be paid on his reputation and association with the Bucks IMO. When that didn’t happen, he had to pivot and make nice. This summer went pretty badly for Dante, and especially his agent, who turned down a 3/30M extension offer from Milwaukee last summer. I’m guessing DDV saw it behooves him to not come off in an ungrateful manner. Especially since next summer he might get exactly what he’s really looking for.

The Kings used the 25 games to see if they wanted to bring Dante back. Ultimately, they decided not to and I think it’s a good decision to move on for both sides. These things happen, it’s no big deal really. Dante is a good buy-low candidate for the Dubs, this is a good make good contract to show your stuff for a player who is good when right.

I don’t think the FO saw what they were looking for to retain DDV and that’s a good thing IMO. These decisions are exactly the kind that make a difference between a good and bad franchise. That said, the way Dante has handled himself has been professional and smart and I hope the guy does well moving forward.

RikSmits
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October 6, 2022 11:08 am
Reply to  Kingsguru21

It’s Donte DiVicenzo and Dante di Alighieri.

Donte’s Basketball Hell and Dante’s Inferno.

Kosta
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October 6, 2022 11:42 am
Reply to  RikSmits

this is divine comedy gold

Kingsguru21
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October 6, 2022 11:51 am
Reply to  Kosta

What Gonzo said.

murraytant
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October 6, 2022 11:50 am
Reply to  Kingsguru21

good response. and I have a question.

I read in The Athletic that because Domas is an unrestricted FA in 2 years, it will be tough for the Kings to re-sign him. Why is that?

murraytant
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October 7, 2022 6:34 pm
Reply to  Greg

oh, that’s simple, just play well. No problem. The sarcasm drips here

Kingsguru21
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October 6, 2022 8:14 pm
Reply to  murraytant

More or less what Greg said.

AnybodyButBagley
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October 6, 2022 8:52 pm
Reply to  Kingsguru21

Please expand on the response. Curious about your version compared the very succinct and accurate description of the situation.

eddie41
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October 6, 2022 9:39 am

can only speculate why they did not resign him. However, I think Moneke might be able to impact the game similar to how Divincenzo did.

RikSmits
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October 6, 2022 11:10 am

The way both Tyrese and DDV reacted to how things went down might point at a personal relations and/or communications issue with Monte.
Just feels weird.

andy_sims
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October 6, 2022 11:25 am

It’s an interesting read. What DD describes is more or less how I thought the dynamic was between him and the Kings, even though the media narrative insisted that he was unhappy, pouting and bitter about his playing time here.

I still love his game, and I’m glad that he found himself a really good situation for this season, and could set himself up for seasons to follow. I didn’t like that he ended up leaving, but the moves this summer, I’d say, will result in better opportunities for the season than if he’d stayed.

Still, I think it sucks that he didn’t get opportunities to start and play bigger minutes, apparently for Holiday’s benefit. Like I said, I really enjoy watching him play basketball.

Hobby916
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October 6, 2022 11:54 am

So the lack of stability in coaching, front office, and players. Sounds like what most of us have been saying for years now.

MichaelMack
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October 6, 2022 12:56 pm
Reply to  Hobby916

Or the Kings were not impressed with DDV and thought Monk was a better fit and moved to sign him quickly.

Adamsite
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Nostradumbass 14
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Nostradumbass 14
October 6, 2022 1:08 pm
Reply to  MichaelMack

They could have had them both. It was not a one or the other situation. Monk was signed via the MLE and the Kings could go over the cap to keep DDV at any cost, which likely would have been minimal considering he got so little from the Warriors.

Hobby916
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October 6, 2022 1:19 pm
Reply to  MichaelMack

I was just commenting on his comments about the organization. I don’t why he didn’t stay/they let him go.

Adamsite
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Nostradumbass 14
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Nostradumbass 14
October 6, 2022 12:46 pm

I still don’t like the Kings letting controlled assets for walk for nothing. It’s a thing for me. Small markets and free agent wastelands just shouldn’t let a RFA like Donte go for nothing.

At the very least offer the QO of $6.6M (I know guru disagrees with this notion) and let him hit the market to see what he is worth. Decide then to match or let him walk. PHX did that with Ayton and brought him back even though they aren’t on the best of terms, but at least PHX controlled the situation and now has Ayton as an asset to move if need be.

The thing is, the Kings still could have gone out and signed Monk and traded for Huerter, all while keeping Donte via RFA or the QO, but that would require the Kings to spend above the bottom third of the league, which is something that hasn’t happened in the Vivek era. Their payroll is #22, right in line with the tanking teams. You have to spend to win and having another asset in the cupboard is a good thing.

Kingsguru21
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October 6, 2022 8:11 pm
Reply to  Adamsite

Small markets and free agent wastelands just shouldn’t let a RFA like Donte go for nothing.

Really disagree with this alot more than the QO part. What do the Kings gain by keeping Donte DiVicenzo exactly?

Adamsite
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Nostradumbass 14
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Nostradumbass 14
October 7, 2022 7:18 am
Reply to  Kingsguru21

An asset.

At worst he’s a $6.6M expiring contract that you kick down the road. Maybe you can package him with someone like Barnes and/or Holmes for something bigger by the deadline.

I mean, what is $6.6M dollar to the team cap? Monte is now going to be paying someone like Delly or Cook the vet minimum to take that 3rd guard role, so might as well have kept a better asset in DDV for a few million more.

Kingsguru21
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October 7, 2022 9:38 am
Reply to  Adamsite

You know trading players on QOs is really difficult right? They require the players consent (it’s a no trade clause) for the entire season. The player, which is why they have the no trade clause, loses Bird rights in any trade after they’ve signed the QO.

I mean, what is $6.6M dollar to the team cap? Monte is now going to be paying someone like Delly or Cook the vet minimum to take that 3rd guard role

This is where I really disagree. Mainly because you’re now asking DDV to take a spot in a rotation as the 5th G and in his walk year heading into FA? I couldn’t think of a worse scenario for a guy to showcase himself. For a team trying to build quality culture and attitude, treating a player like that smacks of seeing players as assets only and never as people.

You’ve talked yourself onto this position Adam where the Kings benefit from retaining DDV in this scenario. But you really need to understand how QOs work before you continue to posit that opinion. QOs are a method of last resort, not a primary means of retaining players. There’s a reason so few players (I don’t even know how many in the last few years have signed one; Bruce Brown signed one in Brooklyn in 2021 is the last one that I’m aware of) even sign a QO.

The main reason they acquired DDV IMO was to see how he looked in Sac. He didn’t look as good as they might have been hoping. I don’t think they just pivoted to Malik Monk out of nowhere. They see Monk as filling a more important gap than DDV does without a spot in the rotation for both.

Like I said already, I think this was the best possible outcome given what each side was looking at.

Adamsite
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Nostradumbass 14
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Nostradumbass 14
October 7, 2022 9:58 am
Reply to  Kingsguru21

I agree the QO is an option of last resort, but I also don’t think DDV would have taken the QO, knowing full well he wants to showcase himself for a larger contract and not be the 5th guard in the rotation. His two year deal with G.S. with a 2nd year player option proves just that.

Someone somewhere would have offered him a deal. The Kings would have had the option to match, let him walk, or even do a S&T. All I am saying is give yourself options as opposed to just letting him walk for nothing by rescinding his rights before free agency even begins.

Kingsguru21
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October 7, 2022 12:19 pm
Reply to  Adamsite

 All I am saying is give yourself options as opposed to just letting him walk for nothing by rescinding his rights before free agency even begins.

They could have worked out a S&T because they still had Donte’s full Bird rights. All offering a QO does is make you RFA. But I don’t think there was much money available for Donte and he got squeezed.

Last edited 1 year ago by Kingsguru21
Carl
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October 6, 2022 8:51 pm
Reply to  Adamsite

I hear what you’re saying and agree in general, but I just don’t think DiVicenzo was very good. The short stints in his career where he was good were near perfect situations for any role player to thrive, where everyone else is good to great and they get all of the attention. DiVicenzo is now in a similar situation in Golden State, and they’re not paying much for him. I don’t think he was good with the Kings, and he probably never would have been. Given his current situation, the Kings did him a huge favor by letting him walk.

The money is what it is and I come at it from a perspective that makes no sense to a pro athlete, where once you’ve made enough money to live the rest of your life, piling more money on has no point. Suffice to say, I got a long way to go before that happens at Bushwood.

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