Fifteen months later, the Sacramento Kings had their man. After the failed signing and trade of Bogdan Bogdanovic ultimately resulted in a league investigation and the Milwaukee Bucks losing their 2022 second-round pick, Donte DiVincenzo is finally heading to Sacramento as part of a deal at the NBA’s 2022 trade deadline.
The Kings will acquire the 25-year-old winger in a four-team trade that will send 22-year-old big man Marvin Bagley III to the Detroit Pistons. DiVincenzo and Bagley were selected 17th and second respectively in the 2018 NBA draft, and both will be restricted free agents in July. ESPN reported for the first time that DiVincenzo goes to Sacramento; Athletic reported for the first time that Bagley is going to Detroit. The deal was officially announced on Thursday evening.
This is how the trade shook, Adrian Wojnarowski d’ESPN:
Detroit trades the two second-round picks, par James Edwards III de The Athletic and the Detroit Free Press‘Omari Sankofa II.
Let’s evaluate the trade.
Kings of Sacramento: A +
For the Kings, it’s a home run whether DiVincenzo sticks or not. Bagley had an extremely turbulent three-and-a-half seasons, even by Sacramento standards, rife with injuries, trade rumors, reported discontent, benchings and unmet expectations. He’s shown some flashes this season, but has missed the Kings’ last six games with an ankle injury. If re-signing with the team that drafted him was extremely unlikely a few days ago, it became a virtual impossibility when Sacramento traded for big man Domantas Sabonis. Like Bagley, Sabonis is a great, skillful southpaw, attacking first. Unlike Bagley, he’s also a multiple-time All-Star, a dominant inside presence, and the NBA’s top passer this side of Nikola Jokic.
DiVincenzo started all 66 games he played for the Bucks in the 2020-21 regular season. He also started early in the playoffs, before tearing a ligament in his left ankle in Game 3 of the first round. The injury sidelined DiVincenzo for the remainder of Milwaukee’s championship run, and, when he and the team couldn’t agree on a contract extension in the offseason, he traded for winger Grayson. Allen (and signed Allen for an extension).
Allen’s acquisition and extension were signals that, before this year’s deadline, DiVincenzo could be traded for real. He returned from injury on Christmas Day and this season has averaged 20.1 minutes on the bench, only surpassing the 27.5 minutes he averaged last year in a single game .
A few weeks ago, DiVincenzo told Eric Nehm of The Athletic that he wanted to stay, but if a trade happens, he’ll be fine: “I went through a trade! I’ve been through that,” he said. ” I’m cool. I want to be here. It’s not like I didn’t want to be here, I’m just saying I experienced it like, ‘Hey, you got traded.’ I have this call. So, that being said, what can you control? Your attitude and your efforts. I come every day and be myself, have a good attitude and control my efforts and play hard every day and wherever. the chips were lying, they were lying. »
If you want to quibble with this deal, you can point to the numbers DiVincenzo has put up since the injury. The shot numbers — 33.1% from the field, 28.4% from 3, 47% true shots — are particularly ugly, and they suggest he’s not cut out for a 3-and-D role, du less right now.
What’s appealing about DiVincenzo, however, is that he’s more than a 3-D gamer. Even when he was making 38.1% of his 3-pointers last season, he was better as a cutter, offensive rebounder, and volley playmaker. DiVincenzo is a smart attacking player who will love playing against Sabonis. He will make defensive plays that will lead De’Aaron Fox to the break. The spacing won’t be ideal with the three on the ground, but they should be able to make up for that.
And if that doesn’t work out, then Sacramento won’t have to re-sign him this summer. All it cost the Kings was a player who was out the door anyway. They could have taken two second-round picks instead, but I prefer DiVincenzo’s advantage.
Bucks de Milwaukee : B
When the Bucks somehow traded DiVincenzo to Sacramento in 2020, he was their best trade chip. It was fair to wonder if it was even worth swapping him for Bogdanovic, provided it didn’t tip the odds of Giannis Antetokounmpo signing his extension either way. At that point, with two years left on his rookie contract, trading him for two second-round picks would have seemed foolish.
Doing it now isn’t crazy. It is also not without risk. Between Allen, Pat Connaughton and Wesley Matthews, Milwaukee have wing depth, but what if one of them is injured in the playoffs? If Milwaukee’s title chances are weaker tomorrow than they were this morning, and especially if Ibaka is not in the playoff rotation and DiVincenzo thrives with the Kings, this decision will seem questionable.
Ibaka is a huge variable. Shortly after the Bucks somehow traded DiVincenzo for the first time, Ibaka signed what looked like a cutback deal with the Clippers for the mid-level exception: two years, $19 million, with a player option on the second season. In the two seasons that followed, he was limited by a back injury. If Milwaukee permanently get the player they faced in the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals, it would be a relatively simple case of the defending champions deciding a big, reliable veteran is more important than a young wing. double meaning.
The Bucks are betting they won’t need DiVincenzo, they’re betting Ibaka will be healthy and productive when they need him, and they’re hedging bad news about starting center Brook Lopez not hasn’t played since opening night. due to a back injury. In the process, they opened up two spots on the roster and got two second-round picks they can include in trades. They could make another move before the deadline and they could play the buyout market.
Detroit Pistons : B-
I’m being a bit generous here. Strictly based on value, I’m not sure glancing at Bagley for a few months is worth two second-round picks. Detroit is exactly the type of team, however, that should take a chance on Bagley, and acting now means they’re in control of whether or not he’s on the roster next season.
Bagley is an exceptionally talented second-draft guy, a gifted scorer who can get second-chance points and make plays that most players his size simply can’t. As a prospect, he was widely seen as a potential star. Shooting and defending have been tough, though, and NBA teams don’t usually die to accommodate big guys who don’t protect the rim.
Any team interested in Bagley needed to consider the cost today and their chances of signing him as a restricted free agent. It’s entirely possible the Pistons could have kept those two picks, let Jackson and Lyles’ contracts expire, and signed Bagley on the open market this summer. If another team was ready to pick him up now, then Detroit should have outbid that team in July.
That way, the Pistons have a chance to get to know Bagley, see how he acclimates to his new surroundings, and make a more informed decision about what to offer him in free agency. It’s the same thing the Kings are doing with DiVincenzo, and it’s up to Bagley to make it look like a smart move.
Clippers de Los Angeles : B+
Los Angeles might look a little silly if Ibaka finds his form in Milwaukee. The team doesn’t suffer from frontcourt depth, however, with Ivica Zubac and Isaiah Hartenstein on the roster and a small tally when it counts.
Ibaka was a rumored takeover candidate. In this context, finding a job for him should be considered a victory. The Clippers opened a traded player exception for $9.7 million, and they’ve already taken their big step by getting Norman Powell and Robert Covington from the Portland Trail Blazers days before the deadline. If they get something from Hood and Ojeleye this season, that’s a bonus.
