It has been over six months since we last saw Donte DiVincenzo playing basketball for the Milwaukee Bucks, but we won’t need to wait much longer.
After suffering a season-ending injury that required surgery in the first round of the playoffs last season, DiVincenzo has been rehabbing and getting ready to make his return at some point during the season. Now, there is a target date in mind according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania and it is Wednesday, December 15th against the Indiana Pacers at Fiserv Forum.
Charania says that the 24-year-old returned well ahead of schedule for the Bucks and that he was initially expected to miss the entire first half of the season. The season is over 30 percent complete for the Bucks and he will be a welcomed addition back for the defending champs.
Reactions to Donte DiVincenzo’s return date being set for the Milwaukee Bucks
Right off the bat, it’s great that DiVincenzo has recovered from his injury and surgery without any setbacks and that he will be back playing for the Bucks ahead of schedule. I’m certainly a big fan of him as a player so it’ll be good to see him out there again.
We had been slowly getting more and more updates regarding DiVincenzo in recent weeks, capped off by him being sent to the Wisconsin Herd to get in a full practice session. The news today means that the practice sessions must have gone well and he is ready to play in live game action again.
He doesn’t seem to have lost much of his jump or athleticism, based on the pregame videos of him throwing down dunks in his workouts. So that is also another encouraging sign for the fourth-year guard.
Donte @Divincenzo throwing it down to cap his workout before tonight’s game against the Pistons. pic.twitter.com/wuXHyDydlU
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) November 25, 2021
Additionally, with DiVincenzo being in a contract year, the more games he gets in this year, the better for him financially and going into next season having put the “injury recovery season” behind him.
As for the Bucks and where he’ll fit in, we likely won’t know too much about his role for at least a week or so as head coach Mike Budenholzer will take things slow with DiVincenzo as he makes his way back into the swing of things.
He had a career season last year, averaging 10.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.1 steals while shooting nearly 38 percent from 3 on over five attempts per game and 54.2 percent true shooting and started all 66 games he played in.
Grayson Allen has started most of the games in DiVincenzo’s place this season (and got a contract extension ahead of DiVincenzo) and has played very well, still shooting over 41 percent from 3 on very high volume.
DiVincenzo is an excellent defender, rebounder for his position, and has been a good finisher at the basket in his career before adding a solid 3-point jumper as well. He fit in well with the starting unit last season, but with how Allen’s shooting has unlocked things for Giannis Antetokounmpo, it will be interesting to see how that shakes out once DiVincenzo is fully back.
If he doesn’t get back his starting job, he will be a very valuable piece for the Bucks off the bench as a secondary ball-handler, defender, and shooter that can play alongside just about any one of the Bucks’ big three.
Although he won’t solve their recent bench scoring issues right away, having his presence throughout the season will be a huge boost for the defending champs.
Overall, I’m happy to see one of their bright young players return to the lineup and start impacting games again.