Knicks fans have been riding the high of their team making it back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999. They know they wouldn't have gotten there without former Minnesota Timberwolves No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns, but there is one thing they wish they could tweak about that trade — losing Donte DiVincenzo.
His time in New York abruptly ended when the front office reluctantly included him in the package for KAT. The trade was a lot for fans of both teams to digest, and while the shock of it eventually wore off, Knicks fans' feelings about DiVo didn't.
There are still people making TikTok edits about New York losing DiVincenzo and breaking up the Nova Knicks quarter, and Instagram reels about how it feels for the team to make the finals without him.
Again, the trade happened over a year and a half ago.
Knicks are going to finals and fans are still thinking about DiVincenzo
It goes deeper than the Villanova connection (he never got to play with Mikal Bridges in NYC), as DiVincenzo had the best season of his career with the Knicks. He averaged a career-best 15.5 points on 44.3% shooting from the field and 40.1% from three in 81 games (63 starts). It was the only time he shot over 40% from deep in his career, and he did it on a career-high 8.7 attempts.
If you ask any Knicks fans what the first thing is they think of when DiVincenzo comes to mind, 99.9% will say the go-ahead three-pointer he hit in Game 2 against the Sixers in the first round of the 2024 playoffs. New York was down by five with 30 seconds left, but won 104-101. MSG was literally shaking after DiVo hit that shot.
Little did they know it was DiVincenzo's final stretch in a Knicks uniform. No one thought that he'd be gone after one season, but New York saw the opportunity to upgrade and took it.
Knicks fans would happily welcome DiVincenzo back
As soon as the trade went through, fans opened the trade machine, trying to find ways to get DiVo back. It doesn't work that way, but you couldn't tell them that.
Before the past two deadlines, they put on their salary cap expert hats and tried to work their magic to find a deal that would work, as if that would be enough to get DiVincenzo back. Although he will miss most of next season (if not all of it) while rehabbing from his torn Achilles tendon, Knicks fans will push for him to come back to New York if Minnesota makes the tough decision to trade him to create more space to re-sign Ayo Dosunmu.
Maybe one day, fans' dream of reuniting with DiVincenzo will come true, but that's not something Minnesota is entertaining right now. Neither is New York in its quest to win its first championship since 1973. And if the Knicks snap that streak, get ready to see more edits from fans about how DiVo should've been part of it.
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