Milwaukee Bucks: Donte DiVincenzo’s latest setback complicates future

The Milwaukee Bucks‘ moment of playoff triumph following their first round sweep of the Miami Heat over the weekend came without their promising prospect and fifth starter.

Before the Bucks’ series clinching victory over the Heat Saturday afternoon, the Bucks were dealt quite the blow with the season-ending injury to Donte DiVincenzo, who suffered a torn ligament in his left foot midway through Game 3.

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While the Bucks will have to soldier on without their starting 2-guard and have multiple options to turn to in his place, DiVincenzo will have to see what is hopefully another deep playoff run unfold while he’s sitting on the sidelines.

After all, this is DiVincenzo’s second season in his young NBA career to have been cut short due to injury. DiVincenzo’s rookie season was beset by injuries before a case of heel bursitis shut down what was essentially a redshirt year for the 24-year-old. The same year where the Bucks made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to the Toronto Raptors.

Donte DiVincenzo is eligible for a rookie-scale extension from the Milwaukee Bucks this offseason

The timing couldn’t be worse for DiVincenzo and this latest injury, especially considering what lies ahead for him this summer. DiVincenzo will be eligible for a rookie-scale extension this offseason and assessing his value in light of this latest injury only makes potential negotiations that much more complex for both sides.

Even as DiVincenzo played the biggest role of his career while in Milwaukee this season, one can’t forget that there was a brief moment in time where he appeared to have been destined for Sacramento in the Bucks’ failed move for Bogdan Bogdanovic. Along with that, the cost of the Bucks’ roster after the lavish extensions of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday will vault the organization into the luxury tax for the foreseeable future.

Right as DiVincenzo reaches the most important point in his young career.

It isn’t just the number of injuries that complicate DiVincenzo’s future value to the Bucks nor is it the financial realities the Bucks are staring at to maintain this championship window. The biggest question is how does DiVincenzo’s season-ending foot injury affect how they look on what he showed throughout this 2020-21 season?

To that end, it was far from a seamless campaign for DiVincenzo, even as he set career highs in points per game (10.4), 3-point percentage (37.9 percent), rebounds per game (5.8) and assists per game (3.1). DiVincenzo’s hot start to the season gave way to many peaks and valleys that unfortunately served as the overarching theme to his own season.

Not all progress is linear, of course, and DiVincenzo has still made incremental strides that has helped him carve out a starting-caliber role on a contending team like the Bucks. And as Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer discussed in the aftermath of his injury, DiVincenzo has been made better by his previous bouts of adversity throughout his Bucks stint:

"“It’s part of life. There’s going to be bumps in the road. There’s going to be things that happen and how you handle them. Anytime Donte’s thrown some adversity or thrown something that’s difficult for himself or for everybody, the way he handles it just continues to be impressive every time.”"

Time will tell how DiVincenzo comes out on the other side of his latest injury and how far the Bucks will go on without him this postseason. For the time being, though, how DiVincenzo responds to this latest setback surely will map out what his future in Milwaukee looks like in the months and years to come.