Just hours before the Minnesota Timberwolves' season tip-offs against the Portland Trail Blazers, it was announced that Donte DiVincenzo earned starting point guard duties over Mike Conley. In some ways, this isn't much of a surprise, as Conley, who is now 38, is coming off a season where he averaged career lows in minutes (24.7) and points (8.2). Additionally, it was rumored that the Wolves were considering this change ahead of the season.
Still, Conley started in 64 out of 71 games last season. It's also worth noting that Conley started over DiVincenzo in the two preseason games both players were active for. Head coach Chris Finch also noted before the season that he prefers DiVincenzo off the ball. Only time will tell whether this lineup change works out.
While Chris Haynes, who first reported this, mentioned that Conley will remain a vital piece, it shows that Finch is clearly losing some belief in the 19-year veteran. Conley's offensive decline, particularly as a shot creator, was evident last year, a problem that got worse in the playoffs. The Wolves' lack of perimeter shot creation next to Anthony Edwards certainly hurt the team.
At this stage of his career, I believe that Conley is still impactful, but he is utilized in a backup guard role.
Sources: Minnesota Timberwolves will award Donte DiVincenzo the starting point guard spot to open the 2025-26 NBA season. Mike Conley will remain a vital piece. More on The Association on @NBATV at 5pm PT. pic.twitter.com/f2e6WL3fVV
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) October 22, 2025
Donte DiVincenzo gives the Timberwolves some much-needed juice
Conley's limitations as a shot creator were on full display last year, and they hurt the Wolves. A staggering 69.5 percent of Conley's made field goals were assisted. For reference, in his age-34 season, that number was just 38.7 percent. In the playoffs, Conley averaged just 6 points on an abysmal 30.2 percent shooting from the field.
Sure, Conley is still impactful as someone who can orchestrate an offense and hit spot-up 3s. However, his limitations as a self-creator and defender hurt the team.
DiVincenzo isn't a super-efficient scorer at the rim, but he can at least get to the paint, and he is a better 3-point shooter than Conley. The Villanova product shot 48 percent on drives compared to Conley's 38.7 percent.
Another key advantage of starting DiVincenzo over Conley is defense. At 6-foot with limited mobility, Conley is a defensive target. The 6-foot-4 DiVincenzo had better positional size and athleticism. DiVincenzo is far from an All-Defensive level guy, but he's a much better point-of-attack defender than Conley.
The Wolves' traditional starting lineup with DiVincenzo in place of Conley posted a 4.6 net rating, slightly exceeding the lineup with Conley, which posted a 3.2 net rating. Likewise, in the playoffs, the lineup with DiVincenzo posted a 22 net rating while the lineup with Conley posted a 17.
Ultimately, while it's fair to wonder about the Wolves' playmaking with Conley off the bench, this move should give them a nice boost in terms of scoring and defense.