The Minnesota Timberwolves were hard-capped at the second apron after the LaMelo Ball trade. After agreeing to sign Jonathan Kuminga to a two-year, $12.4 million deal, they will need to clear about $3 million in space, which they could do by trading Donte DiVincenzo (which may be impossible, given his injury) or waiving and stretching his contract. Either would be icky.
If you're worried about that happening, ESPN's Bobby Marks said on Thursday that he would "bet" his 401K that DiVincenzo won't be on the way out, as he "expects" the guard to return "sometime soon."
So, there's that, and ESPN also reported that the Timberwolves will try to trade Josh Green or waive him and stretch his contract before Saturday's 4 p.m. CT deadline. Nothing is certain yet, but Minnesota doesn't seem to be considering moving on from DiVincenzo, which has been the case and still is, even now, under its new circumstances.
The Wolves continue to make a point to market Divincenzo this offseason. A lot probably has to do with him being around a lot doing rehab but they also are making sure he knows he's wanted. https://t.co/xLR0TBKlF0
— On The Prowl (@ontheprowl_MN) August 26, 2026
Timberwolves need to keep DiVincenzo
If you wanted, you could try to make a case as to why the Timberwolves should consider losing DiVincenzo over Green, given the former will miss a chunk of the 2026-27 season. Marks said he thinks the guard will return soon, but there is no set timeline.
If DiVincenzo follows in Jayson Tatum's footsteps (he returned in less than 10 months), he could be back sometime in January or February, but it will take him longer than that to start to look like his old self, if that happens during the season. And that is the best-case scenario, as no one should view Tatum's recovery timeline as the standard.
You still can't rule out DiVincenzo missing the entire season, though his recovery and rehab have been going well. That possibility could be enough to make some view keeping Green as the higher priority, since he is healthy. Still, if there's a chance DiVincenzo will return this season (and there clearly is), the Timberwolves can't let him go.
Green could help Minnesota most with his three-point shooting, but he shot 42% from three last season in Charlotte on only 2.4 attempts per game. He averaged only 4.3 points per contest in 15.7 minutes across 58 games. His production has steadily declined since he averaged a career-high 9.1 points during the 2022-23 season in Dallas.
If he did hang around, he probably wouldn't be in the rotation now with Kuminga's arrival, which would defeat the purpose of keeping him.
The Timberwolves already know what they can get from DiVincenzo, who has become the key piece of the Karl-Anthony Towns trade, and like the rest of us, it seems like they want to see him play alongside LaMelo. It will take him a while to get up to speed, but it'll be worth the wait.
Add us as a preferred source on Google