Milwaukee Bucks: Evaluating Donte DiVincenzo’s role on 2021-2022 roster

Donte DiVincenzo is about to enter his fourth season with the Milwaukee Bucks.

DiVincenzo has had a fair share of ups and downs throughout his career so far. Most of the downs have come from an inability to stay healthy. In his three seasons in Milwaukee, DiVincenzo has only been healthy for the team’s entire playoff run one time. The young guard missed a majority of the team’s championship run last season.

Due to the injury suffered during last year’s playoffs, DiVincenzo will likely miss a significant amount of time to begin the new campaign. The injury to DiVincenzo prompted the team to trade for Grayson Allen this offseason to try to fill in while he is down. DiVincenzo is yet to be cleared for a return to basketball activities with the Bucks. With Allen as an insurance option in place, where does DiVincenzo stand upon his return from injury?

What role will Donte DiVincenzo play for the Milwaukee Bucks during the NBA’s 2021-22 season?

As previously mentioned, the team traded for Allen this offseason.

Allen is the perfect man to fill in for the missing DiVincenzo. Allen’s playstyle matches that of DiVincenzo, so it may seem like he never left in the first place. Allen is an athletic guard offensively that can knock down the three. Allen shot 39 percent from distance last season, where DiVincenzo shot 37 percent. He also is able to attack the basket better than DiVincenzo, who has struggled with driving layups throughout his NBA career.

Allen has gained a reputation as a dirty player over the years. That is a title that gets thrown around a lot loosely. A lot of players that play hard get mistaken as dirty players. I am willing to give Allen the benefit of the doubt as a guy that plays hard and gets a dirty player title because of it. While he has had some questionable moments throughout his college years, those dirty plays have seemed to go the wayside in the NBA.

Allen should have an easy time filling in for DiVincenzo due to his play style. A solid outside shooter that also puts his best effort in on the defensive side of the floor is exactly the type of player that the Bucks need at the starting shooting guard position.

One could argue that DiVincenzo’s best season in Milwaukee came in the bench role.

During the 2019-2020 season, he took an enormous leap from his rookie season. DiVincenzo improved his 3-point shooting percentage by seven percent from his rookie season to 33 percent. He also showed an ability to bring the ball up the floor and possibly play the point to take some pressure off of the point guard. Many Bucks fans were excited to see the future during that second season where DiVincenzo came off the bench. Would he be able to recapture that form if the Bucks brought him off the bench again?

Allen is likely going to be the guy that the Bucks will start moving forward throughout the season. I’m about as pro-Donte as it gets for a Bucks fan, considering he’s my favorite player on the roster. However, Allen plays the same way that Donte does and puts up better numbers in the process.

We’ve seen DiVincenzo thrive in a bench role before, so maybe the Allen trade could be what is best for him moving forward in Milwaukee.