Now in his eighth NBA season and second with the Timberwolves, Donte DiVincenzo has been asked to do things this year that he had never been previously. With Mike Conley another year older, and Rob Dillingham still not ready for major minutes, the Timberwolves are asking DiVincenzo to be the starting point guard.
Anthony Edwards does a lot of the ball-handling, which takes some responsibilities off DiVincenzo’s plate, but he has still done an admirable job. Turning 29 years old on January 31, the playmaking aspect of his game has been impressive to watch.
16 assists for DiVincenzo over the last two games
It certainly wasn’t DiVincenzo’s finest shooting performance in the Christmas Day overtime loss to the Nuggets. He went just 2-11 from the field and 0-7 from 3-point range. He also fouled out in overtime. Despite all of this, Minnesota was a plus-12 in his 34 minutes as Donte found other ways to make an impact for the Wolves.
He grabbed eight boards, had two steals and a block, while also dishing out eight assists. Not only that, but DiVincenzo didn’t turn the ball over once. Trailing by 14 entering the fourth quarter, DiVincenzo played the entire 12-minute frame. In the final period (before overtime), he dished out five assists. All five of them came with the Timberwolves still down 14 with less than seven minutes remaining.
Donte DiVincenzo clutch steal, created by the Anthony Edwards + Jaden McDaniels defense on Jamal Murray + Nikola Jokic pic.twitter.com/GuWvP0R6Fc
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) December 26, 2025
Now in his last two games, DiVincenzo has totaled 16 assists while turning it over just once. The eight assists in the previous game came against the Knicks, the team that dealt DiVincenzo to Minnesota in the 2024 offseason.
Highest +/- on Timberwolves this season
Thus far in his 31 appearances, DiVincenzo is averaging a career-high 4.0 assists to go along with 1.3 turnovers (lowest since his rookie year when he played just 15.2 minutes per contest). His assist-to-turnover ratio of nearly 3.1 is easily a career-best.
The Timberwolves seem to always win the minutes that DiVincenzo is on the court as well. His +176 this season leads the squad. Only in nine of his 31 appearances has Minnesota been outscored with him on the court, and it’s also just in six of Donte’s last 27 outings.
A point grade upgrade could still be coming at some point before the trade deadline. With that said, it may not be as dire a need as previously thought because of the play of Donte DiVincenzo.