Milwaukee Bucks: Revisiting Donte DiVincenzo’s lofty 2020-21 goals

Donte DiVincenzo had a massive chip on his shoulder entering the 2020-21 NBA season, which was also his fourth with the Milwaukee Bucks.

The team had essentially traded him away to the Sacramento Kings in a sign-and-trade for guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, bringing in his replacement. However, as everyone knows, the deal eventually fell through and DiVincenzo would awkwardly return to the Bucks, who promoted him with a spot in the starting lineup the following season.

More from Bucks News

• Bucks 2023-24 player profile: Can MarJon Beauchamp take a leap?
• Piecing together the Milwaukee Bucks’ dream starting 5 in 5 years
• Predicting Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s 2023-24 stats for the Bucks
• Grade the trade: Bucks land reputable backup guard in swap with Pacers
• New workout video should have Milwaukee Bucks fans excited

With the guard more motivated than ever entering the season, we handed out some goals for DiVincenzo to achieve as he looked to prove himself in Milwaukee last season.

While his season ended more prematurely than anyone would have hoped for as the 24-year-old suffered a season-ending injury in the playoffs, everything up until that point was relatively solid as he took strides forward. With that being said, let us take a look back and evaluate those goals from before last season.

Revisiting Donte DiVincenzo’s 2020-21 goals with the Milwaukee Bucks: No. 3 – Build off a strong defensive campaign

DiVincenzo had shown glimpses of defensive excellence throughout his first two years with the Bucks, but he would be put to the test entering 2020-21.

With a spot in the starting lineup, he would receive more assignments against better players, often being tasked with guarding top-tier guards. There were some questions regarding whether or not he could on the challenge, but ultimately, he did show improvement on the defensive end as the season went on. Playing alongside Jrue Holiday, DiVincenzo helped form a reputable one-two punch defensively in the backcourt that would terrorize opposing guards nightly.

The biggest knock on DiVincenzo defensively is that he sometimes takes massive gambles that lead to trouble for the Bucks. The biggest instance of this came in a March 17 matchup versus the Philadelphia 76ers earlier this season. The Bucks led by three with three seconds remaining, and as the ball was inbounded to 76ers guard Furkan Korkmaz, DiVincenzo went for the steal, missed it, and left Korkmaz wide open in the corner to hit the game-tying three and force overtime. In the end, the Bucks won, so it was overshadowed, but gambles like that are a recurring thing with him.

Still, aside from that, he did noticeably improve in his defense between year two and year three, and that helped this Milwaukee team massively. When it comes to this goal, it seems safe to say that DiVincenzo hit the mark. There is still work to be done moving forward, and the young guard still has plenty of time to develop his defense.