Donte DiVincenzo Speaks Out Against 'Untrue' Knicks Rumors

A blockbuster trade for Karl-Anthony Towns cost the New York Knicks two starters from last season; Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle. But the latter was slated for a role off the bench in 2024-2025, thanks to the Mikal Bridges trade earlier this summer.

Matt Issa of SportsCasting reported that DiVincenzo was "unhappy" with the idea of being demoted after a career year, following his trade to the Minnesota Timberwolves. But in an exclusive interview with Stefon Bondy of the New York Post , the former Knicks guard shut down any such rumor.

“Obviously everyone wants to start coming off the season I had last year, but I also understand that there’s different lineups and different combinations that teams want to get to – I understand that. It was never a thing of, ‘Oh, we got Mikal, I’m pissed off.’ I was super excited,” DiVincenzo told Bondy. “Take the Villanova s–t out of it, I was super excited because we have a very good player coming back to the team. And you get OG [Anunoby] back, now you’re looking at, ‘Wow we’re going to be really good.’ There was never a conversation of my role was going to be diminished. There was never a role that my minutes would be diminished. It was the outside assumption and ran with it and it was untrue.”

DiVincenzo went on to call the rumors "completely untrue."

“I don’t know how that kind of picked up speed but it’s completely untrue. You can look at the team I’m on right now – there’s going to be some games I start, and there’s going to be a lot of games I come off the bench,” he told Bondy.

Now a member of the Timberwolves, DiVincenzo shined in his preseason debut, posting 11 points on 100% shooting in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers. He and the Timberwolves will take on the Knicks in a preseason matinee at Madison Square Garden on October 13. Tip-off is at 6 PM EST.

Related: Julius Randle Shares Honest Feelings on Return to New York After Knicks Trade