3 ways Donte DiVincenzo can help the Golden State Warriors next season
By Dalton Sell
3 ways Donte DiVincenzo can help the Golden State Warriors: Scoring/Shooting
There were times last season when the Golden State Warriors were clearly lacking a spark on the offensive end off the bench. Although adding Donte DiVincenzo will not bring another lethal scorer into the fold, his presence should help give the team another solid player that can make shots and produce some points in the Warrior’s second unit.
DiVincenzo’s long-range shooting will help him fit seamlessly with the Warriors. Over the past two years, his numbers are passable, as he has sunk 36.3 percent of his threes on 5.2 tries per contest.
Looking closer, it gets better, as the young guard has thrived as a spot-up shooter from long range, shooting 93-of-44 (38.1 percent) and 59-of-136 (36.2 percent) on his catch and shoot three-pointers during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 NBA seasons.
In an offensive system alongside Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and other stellar playmakers, DiVincenzo should thrive off these looks. With the team losing both Otto Porter Jr. and Gary Payton II, who each shot above 35 percent from three in the 2021-22 season, DiVincenzo should help make up for some of that loss of shooting.
As an overall scorer, DiVincenzo can be hit or miss. His finishing close to the hoop has always been a prominent weakness, and his jump shot can be streaky. Ultimately, Golden State will not depend heavily on DiVincenzo as a primary scorer, as that will be up to players like Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole, and Klay Thompson.
If DiVincenzo can knock down his three-pointers with consistency and finish on the occasional fast break, he will be a useful piece on the offensive end. Excluding an injury-ridded rookie campaign that limited his playing time, DiVincenzo has averaged 9.6 points in his career, and if he could put up something similar on good efficiency in Golden State, it would be a tremendous boost off the bench next season.