NBA Insider officially kills absurd Timberwolves trade rumor

The 2024-25 season has not exactly gotten off to the smoothest start for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Granted, making a major trade less than four weeks before the start of the season is a decision bound to make life difficult for any team. But the Wolves have gone through public struggles that have made many wonder about the future of the team.

Fortunately, Anthony Edwards has made it clear that by far the biggest problem facing this squad is a mental block. When they face high-level competition, they seem to be able to flip a switch and compete extremely hard. For the time being, they are still working on being able to engage that intensity against the league's bottom-dwellers as well.

In the interim, there have been suggestions from fans about what trades to make, as well as other rumors coming from random corners of the internet. This past week, one of those rumors that gained some serious ground was the one claiming that the Timberwolves may be open to moving Donte DiVincenzo, who they of course just acquired in the Karl-Anthony Towns trade.

Now, NBA Insider Marc Stein has stepped in to clear any confusion on the topic. Stein writes in his latest publication on Sunday (subscription required):

I saw all kinds of Twitter chatter Friday about the supposed status of Minnesota’s Donte DiVincenzo as a trade target for contending teams. That runs counter to everything I’ve heard about the Wolves, who wanted DiVincenzo for more than a year before they actually acquired him and are said to have zero interest in fielding inquiries for him not yet three full months into his Wolves tenure.

Marc Stein confirms Timberwolves not looking to trade DiVincenzo

Given how connected Stein is in the NBA world and considering his track record of credibility, it would seem this rumor about DiVincenzo being a potential trade piece is toast. This would seem to make a lot more sense than the notion that they were looking to move on from him.

Donte may have struggled shooting the ball for the first month of his tenure in Minnesota, but completely giving up on a great shooter because he is in a November slump is a totally ridiculous idea. DiVincenzo's shooting splits will eventually revert to the norm, and he is still getting acclimated to his new teammates.

It is also worth noting that Stein reports the Timberwolves "wanted DiVincenzo for more than a year" before trading for him. This obviously means that President Tim Connelly had a vision for Donte on this team, and it is highly unlikely DiVincenzo has done anything over the course of 16 games to completely change Connelly's mind.