LAS VEGAS — When news broke that All-Star forward Kevin Durant wanted out of Brooklyn just hours before the NBA’s free-agency period was set to begin, it sent shockwaves across the league that stalled transactions for almost every player searching for a new home, including Donte DiVincenzo.
“Everything was kind of just different for me,” the newly signed Golden State Warriors guard said on Saturday. “You hear one thing, then the next thing you know you’re hearing something else. So it was a little stressful for me, just weighing my options, weighing different things.”
Ahead of free agency, DiVincenzo picked the brains of his former Villanova teammates Eric Paschall and Omari Spellman — who both happened to be Warriors rotation players once upon a time — to get a better sense of what the organization was all about. The culture they described was familiar, and reminded him of what he experienced in college and over his first four NBA seasons with the Bucks.
DiVincenzo loved the Warriors’ unselfish nature, how a team with three future Hall of Fame players wasn’t afraid to defer to role players like Jordan Poole or Otto Porter Jr. if needed. He knew being around players with that type of mentality could help unlock another level in his game.
But what ultimately inspired DiVincenzo to sign a two-year, $9.3 million deal to join Golden State, he said, were candid conversations with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
“Once I had the conversations with Steph and Draymond, everything kind of slowed down for me a little bit,” said DiVincenzo, who reportedly received higher offers from other teams. “I got away from the numbers and the dollar signs and everything and I was more so focused on what is best for Donte, what’s best for me going forward. And like I said, I go back to the culture and the environment. I think it’s something I want to be a part of and that’s who I am. So I don’t think I have to change who I am. I can just fit in and become a Warrior.”
Saturday morning outside of the ARIA Resort & Casino’s Orovada Ballroom, DiVincenzo shared some insight into what his conversations with Curry and Green entailed:
“Two different types of conversations,” he said with a smile. “I’ve gotten to know Draymond a little bit over the past four years, but he just shot it straight to me. And Steph’s the nicest person in the world, so everything was good. Like I said, we talked about the culture and the environment what’s best for Donte. ... Each place I was in was a winning environment, a winning culture. It wasn’t a ‘me’ thing, it was a ‘we’ thing. And that’s what they emphasized to me and that’s what I wanted to be a part of.”
DiVincenzo’s NBA career has taken some dramatic turns in recent years. The 25-year-old, drafted 17th overall by the Bucks in 2018, started 66 games during their championship season in 2020-21, but didn’t play in any playoff games after the first round because of a severe left ankle injury suffered against the Miami Heat.
DiVincenzo returned to the court in late December of last season, only to be thrown into a four-team trade in February that landed him with the Sacramento Kings. He averaged 10.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.5 steals in 25 games with Sacramento, but the team declined to extend him a qualifying offer this offseason, which made him an unrestricted free agent.
But it wasn’t necessarily a lost season for DiVincenzo, considering he slowly returned to form in some ways. In 17 games with the Bucks, he shot just 33.1% from the field. In his 25 games with the Kings, he shot 36.2% from the field.
“I mean, in a weird way I just feel like I ran out of time,” DiVincenzo said. “We weren’t making the playoffs in Sacramento. And when the season ended, it was like, ‘OK, we’re done.’ I only played two months. I feel great now. I think my workouts have been going great and my body feels great. I’m ready to get a lot more open looks.”
Today, DiVincenzo said it doesn’t even feel like he had surgery on his ankle, and that he’s found new training methods to strengthen it further. And he believes that playing with a ball-movement-oriented team like the Warriors will bring out the best of his skill set.
The injury and the trade have weighed on him over the past few years. Now in Golden State, he gets a fresh start and the chance to put himself back on the map.
“That’s something Steph and I talked about, just the injury,” DiVincenzo said. “He’s like, ‘We know you can play, you know you can play, you just have to show everybody for a year that you can play.’”
C.J. Holmes covers the Warriors for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: cj.holmes@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @CjHolmes22
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How Steph Curry and Draymond Green sold Donte DiVincenzo on Warriors - San Francisco Chronicle
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