Milwaukee Bucks: 5 lessons from 2019 NBA Summer League
By Adam McGee
Wait continues for Donte
This is really a lesson from the Summer League roster announcement rather than Summer League itself, but Donte DiVincenzo’s absence in Las Vegas isn’t entirely insignificant.
The Bucks’ most recent draft pick, 17th overall in 2018, was officially shut down for the season due to right heel bursitis at the end of March, and remained out of action as a precautionary measure as Milwaukee headed to Summer League.
Long-running struggles with that same injury issue more extensively limited DiVincenzo to just five games since 2019 got underway, which marked a major disappointment following some encouraging signs when he was a part of the rotation early in the year.
On the whole, DiVincenzo’s rookie season amounted to something of a redshirt year. The Bucks are therefore understandably exercising significant caution in his return, but that doesn’t change the fact it is highly unusual for heel bursitis to cause a player to miss the kind of sustained time that DiVincenzo has.
Much like Brown, DiVincenzo will have increased opportunity next season, if he’s healthy. Beyond that, though, the Bucks may well need him to be a contributor. His extended absence is somewhat alarming, particularly as between Summer League and the NBA, DiVincenzo really could have used some more opportunities to iron out his shooting struggles ahead of his second season.