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Milwaukee Bucks: Donte DiVincenzo’s playmaking prowess bubbling to surface

By Jordan Treske

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 27: Donte DiVincenzo #0 of the Milwaukee Bucks handles the ball during a game against the Atlanta Hawks at Fiserv Forum on November 27, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 27: Donte DiVincenzo #0 of the Milwaukee Bucks handles the ball during a game against the Atlanta Hawks at Fiserv Forum on November 27, 2019 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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Donte DiVincenzo has managed to make a wide-ranging impact for the soaring Milwaukee Bucks this season and his strides as a secondary playmaker have been a key development throughout his 2019-20 campaign.

If there’s anything clear about the role Donte DiVincenzo has carved out with the Milwaukee Bucks this season, it’s that there’s no box in which his contributions are limited to.

The 22-year-old DiVincenzo has stood as a bright spot in what’s been an incredibly bright season in Milwaukee as the Bucks continue to roll through the NBA and are on pace for a historic season, more than two months into the 2019-20 campaign, as they currently hold a 27-4 record.

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Under reigning NBA Coach of the Year Mike Budenholzer, DiVincenzo’s role has informed his Swiss Army knife services and 15 of his 28 appearances this season have come in the starting unit, due to the injuries of Khris Middleton and now, Eric Bledsoe.

It’s been in the latter stint filling the place of Bledsoe in the starting lineup where DiVincenzo’s growing ability to distribute the ball within the flow of the Bucks’ offense that has come into focus, along with the rest of his developing services.

DiVincenzo has long shown an ability to make incisive decisions with the ball in his hands, whether it’s finding and feeding Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo in transition with man advantages or threading the needle to cutting teammates on their way to the basket (per pbpstats.com, 32 of DiVincenzo’s 61 helpers have been scored directly at the rim).

And that’s manifested in DiVincenzo averaging 3.2 assists per game throughout the month of December, which has included a recent game in which DiVincenzo handed out a career-high nine assists in the Bucks’ streak-busting loss to the Dallas Mavericks last week. That’s raised DiVincenzo’s assist output to 2.2 assists per game and he’s been able to make crisp decisions with the ball, as evidenced by his 1.97 assist-to-turnover ratio, per NBA.com/stats.

No one should make that out as DiVincenzo stepping up as a lead playmaker a la Bledsoe as he fills in his spot in the starting lineup and that’s reinforced by his below-average 16.3 usage percentage.

Yet it’s DiVincenzo’s penchant to make quick passes to set up his teammates with high quality looks that’s been crucial in his recent strides as a secondary playmaker. Case in point, DiVincenzo ranks fifth on the Bucks in terms of touches per game (35.5), seventh in average seconds per touch (2.58) and eighth in average dribbles per touch (1.91).

The Bucks’ read and react offense under Budenholzer, even with the added variety they’ve sported this year, asks every player to be able to handle the ball and spring unpredictability on their opponents on their way to crafting the second-best offensive efficiency at this point in the season at 114.4 points per 100 possessions. And if a player embodies read-and-react, it may very well be DiVincenzo himself.

Between that and his whirling dervish defending that sees DiVincenzo terrorizing passing lanes and regularly track back on the boards to leap up for misses, the Villanova alum continues to assert himself as a key cog within the Bucks’ rotation by giving them a different dimension they didn’t have on the wing throughout their run last season.

The one thing that’s left for DiVincenzo to round out his offensive capabilities is being able to be a more consistent 3-point threat as he’s currently hit 34.3 percent of his 99 attempts from long distance. However, that can be explained by the disparity in DiVincenzo hitting triples off the catch (30-of-78, 38.5 percent) versus off the dribble (4-for-21, 19 percent), per the tracking numbers of NBA.com/stats.

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While DiVincenzo’s marksmanship will be monitored throughout the rest of the season, he continues to make good use of his wide-ranging game and the growing playmaking skills that have helped him to cement himself as a fixture within the Bucks’ rotation this season.

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