Milwaukee Bucks: Grading the offseason acquisitions after 23 games
By Robby Cowles
Donte DiVincenzo
When the Bucks drafted Donte DiVincenzo in the first round of the NBA draft with the 17th selection, my reaction was mostly…meh.
DiVincenzo rocketed up draft boards after his incredible scoring outburst in the NCAA Championship Game for Villanova, leading him to be named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
The selection didn’t blow me away, but it didn’t upset me either. I was very lukewarm on Donte.
His abysmal performance in the NBA Summer League and most of the preseason didn’t do anything to force me to rethink my opinion either.
However, when the regular season started, it seemed like something clicked with DDV. For one, he was immediately getting significant playing time off the bench, which was surprising considering there were more experienced players like Sterling Brown and the newly-signed Pat Connaughton as alternatives.
However, watching him play in the first couple games, it became immediately apparent why Budenholzer liked DDV so much.
His athleticism was easy to see, as he regularly showed off his 42-inch vertical to grab rebounds and contest shots. He also had a sweet shooting stroke that he wasn’t afraid to use whenever he got an open look.
He was solid on defense, using his long wingspan to hold his own despite having a leaner frame than most NBA wings. DDV also brought a high level of energy off the bench which, combined with his athleticism, led him to contribute in other ways besides scoring such as defense and rebounding.
It’s a cliche to say it, but he just has a nose for the ball. Whenever DiVincenzo came in he seemed to do something like soar for an offensive rebound, block an opposing big man’s shot down low, make a slick pocket pass or be the first to jump on a loose ball.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about The Big Ragu, to me at least, was his comfort. DDV was mostly a bench player his last season in college, but he has never looked daunted in the NBA and seems to always know where to be in Budenholzer’s offensive and defensive schemes.
His stats aren’t great, averaging just 5.6 points on 40 percent shooting from the field and 26 percent from deep, but he has had to deal with a knee injury that kept him out of five games already.
I’m confident that DDV will only get better throughout the season as he adjusts even more to playing with his new teammates, and in the NBA. It seems like he couldn’t have fallen to a better team than the Bucks, where he can focus on using his athleticism to affect the game in other ways and let the offense come to him when it’s presented to him.
He’s not going to put up gaudy numbers or be in the running for Rookie of the Year, or probably even an All-Rookie team, but there’s more potential in him than I initially thought.
For a non-lottery pick, DiVincenzo has shown enough promise that he could look like a steal in a couple of years. In the present, he’s still a solid role player off the bench, which is about as much as you can ask for from a non-lottery draft pick.
Grade: B-