Milwaukee Bucks: Donte DiVincenzo taking further strides is essential
By Adam McGee
Having thankfully rebounded at the end of his first playoff run, Donte DiVincenzo kicking on next season will be vital for the Milwaukee Bucks.
After an injury-disrupted rookie season that made for a far from ideal introduction to the NBA, Donte DiVincenzo had an incredibly eventful second year as he established himself as an important player for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Coming through the other side of a truly unique stoppage for a global pandemic, DiVincenzo’s stellar play from the rest of the season tailed off dramatically in the strange and sterile environment of the NBA bubble.
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It wasn’t enough to save the Bucks to fight another day, but it certainly will have come as a relief to DiVincenzo and all involved with the organization that he did regain his prior form for the team’s final three games against the Miami Heat.
With uncertainty about how the Bucks’ roster may look by the start of next season, and what kind of changes could come in the form of trades before then, DiVincenzo’s importance to Milwaukee is likely to only increase significantly year on year.
On that front, for as good as the former Villanova standout was at times this season, he’s going to need to be even better as the Bucks look to bounce back and finally get over their playoff hump next year.
That means that the work DiVincenzo puts into his game over the offseason will be particularly crucial, as not only will he need to improve at what he was already doing for Milwaukee, but he will need to get better too.
The Bucks were shown up for having a lack of capable backcourt creators against the Heat, which made it much easier for Miami to wall Giannis off and force Milwaukee’s offense beyond him to fall into complete stagnation.
As a player who has already carved out a stable spot in the Bucks’ guard rotation, DiVincenzo will need to do all he can with his own personal game to help his team to break out beyond those issues.
DiVincenzo can’t, and won’t, be the solution to all of Milwaukee’s problems. But improved ball-handling, playmaking, and shooting from him would make for a major boost for the Bucks, even if his gains in those departments were only just incremental.
The need for Donte to do more, and assume greater responsibility in those areas of his game may only become even more pressing if the Bucks trade Eric Bledsoe, as many expect, in the months ahead.
Even if DiVincenzo didn’t need to be included in such a deal, the Bucks would certainly find it difficult to put packages together for any point guard of note that didn’t also include George Hill. In other words, even if the Bucks manage to bring in a new star point guard, Milwaukee could yet find themselves turning to DiVincenzo and asking him to do much more as a Sixth Man style combo guard beyond that.
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Overall, DiVincenzo’s second season has provided plenty of reason for encouragement about what his future could look like, but the Bucks will need him to take the next step and continue to translate that promise into improved production.