How Donte DiVincenzo's Absence Will Affect Timberwolves to Begin the Season

Availability is a skill, and Donte DiVincenzo had been one of the most reliably available players in the league over the last several seasons, right up until Game 4 of last spring's first round playoff matchup against the Denver Nuggets.

Since his rookie season, DiVincenzo had played 471 of 555 potential regular-season contests, or just a shade under 85%. And just last season, DiVincenzo was more reliable than ever, starting in all 82 regular season games before going down with an Achilles' injury in the postseason.

Suddenly, a Wolves team that had acquired fellow guard Ayo Dosunmu at the trade deadline with the intention of playing him alongside DiVincenzo and Anthony Edwards was now facing the reality that their new acquisition would be tasked with replacing the injured DiVincenzo for much of the 2026-27 season.

There is no question that the Wolves' overall depth will be impacted by the absence of DiVincenzo, but what are the areas of greatest concern?

Shooting volume and accuracy

Clearly, shooting tops the list of impacted areas. DiVincenzo led the Timberwolves in three-point attempts and makes last season and was third in percentage among players who appeared in at least half of the Wolves' regular season games.

He's a career 38% three-point shooter who had hit at a 39.9% clip over the three seasons prior to last year, split between Golden State, New York, and his first season in Minnesota. And the volume matters, too: over the last three campaigns, DiVincenzo pulled on 7.9 long-range attempts per game and shot 73.5% of his field goal attempts from beyond the arc.

Look no further than last year's playoffs to find the impact of a DiVincenzo-less backcourt. The Wolves lost five of their eight games after his injury, and both playoff opponents were happy to load up even more than usual on Anthony Edwards without DiVincenzo lurking as a release valve.

Dosunmu and Jaden McDaniels were the only truly dangerous outside shooters frequently sharing the floor with Ant, but McDaniels was mired in a weeks-long shooting slump and while Dosunmu hit threes at a respectable 34.8% clip post-DiVincenzo injury, it wasn't anywhere near his 43% mark in the regular season.

The addition of LaMelo Ball ahead of the 2026-27 campaign will make a massive difference. Clearly, Ball at the helm with Edwards enjoying more off-ball and catch-and-shoot opportunities is Plan A, but the idea of Ball's limitless range and second-side creation ability serving as a pressure release for Edwards will also be beneficial.

Last year's Charlotte Hornets were second in the league in three-point attempt rate and first in makes per game, and not having DiVincenzo means there is one less plus shooter for head coach Chris Finch to deploy as a running mate with his new dynamic point guard. It also means more minutes allocated to the shooting volatility of Bones Hyland and Terrence Shannon Jr. and the non-shooting of Jaylen Clark.

Of course, if and when DiVincenzo returns late in the season, the Wolves will be able to trot out a backcourt and wing rotation chock-full of plus shooters.

Ball-handling and defensive reliability

DiVincenzo is not a point guard, even if he was forced to play one on TV for much of last season. He's also not quite a defensive ace.

However, DiVincenzo brought a steadiness and reliability to both areas over the last two seasons. He could handle in ball-screen actions and push the pace in the open floor. Without him, the ball-handling options are limited to Ball, Edwards, Dosunmu, and Hyland.

Defensively, DiVincenzo was probably tasked with guarding the other team's best backcourt scoring threat a bit too often. This was mostly to attempt to preserve Edwards and in part due to the presence of the aging Mike Conley, and at times DiVincenzo was overextended based on the matchup. But he often held is own and has been a solid option to guard the opponent's second-best perimeter scoring option throughout his career.

Ball does not have a sterling reputation as an on-ball defender but his length and anticipatory skills make him impactful when playing in the gaps off the ball—which only necessitates having more on-ball options. Without DiVincenzo, the Wolves will rely upon McDaniels, Dosunmu, Edwards, and Jonathan Kuminga to guard the ball, even as they would prefer to allow McDaniels to roam and provide weak-side rim protection.

I asked Jaylen Clark if having Ayo, JK, Ant, Joan, etc. might allow Jaden McDaniels to play off the ball more:

"Yeah, more weak side rim protector type thing. That'd be great because his shot block timing and everything, his length (is just great).

"It also allows him to save…
— Jack Borman (@JackBorman) September 28, 2026

Again, it's more about the lack of potential options. DiVincenzo is a solid, if not spectacular answer to virtually any question that Finch may ask of his roster, and not having him to help on the defensive end of the floor will matter in the opening months of the season.

Small-ball lineups and late-game situations

The Wolves already have a roster that skews small, with visions of five-out lineups that include McDaniels or Kuminga at center dancing in the heads of all Wolves fans that want each game to feel like a NASCAR race.

Right now, the most realistic small lineup would include Ball, Edwards, and Dosunmu in the backcourt with some combination of Kuminga, McDaniels, Terrence Shannon Jr., and Trey Lyles in the frontcourt. But there aren't really too many other backcourt combinations that work; Clark can't shoot or handle well enough and Hyland isn't big enough for a lineup that would be short on rebounding.

Adding DiVincenzo to the fold would give the Wolves another reasonable option in the backcourt and yet another set of permutations that Finch could trot out to give opposing defenses fits.

Late-game situations are another consideration. Shooting, ball-handling, and plus free throw shooting are paramount in crunch time, along with the calming presence of veterans who have been there and done that. DiVincenzo offers all of the above in spades, including 58 career playoff game appearances and a championship with the 2021 Bucks.

Ultimately, the Wolves are significantly better prepared to weather the DiVincenzo-less storm now than they were prior to the Dosunmu acquisition and his subsequent re-signing this summer. Still, the Wolves roster is just a bit thin for a team that expects to contend for a Finals appearance in the rought-and-tumble Western Conference, and DiVincenzo's eventual return will make a huge difference for Chris Finch's team this spring.

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