Boston Celtics: Former first-round pick thought he would be on Cs at 2022 trade deadline

Donte DiVincenzo was convinced he’d be receiving his golden ticket to join the Boston Celtics and contend for NBA titles during the 2022 trade deadline this past February but ended up in basketball purgatory with the Sacramento Kings.

To be fair, he did sign with the Golden State Warriors this past offseason, so joining the team with the second-best odds to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy next June — and one that won four straight games this past June to beat the Cs for the most recent NBA championship — is surely the next best thing.

Also, if we want to be as fair to everyone as possible, the Kings were a good landing spot in 2021-22 considering their lack of other options to keep DiVincenzo from playing his second-highest per-game minute total in his career — only behind the 2020-21 champion Milwaukee Bucks, one on which he suffered an ankle injury that kept him out of that playoffs’ Eastern Conference semifinals, ECF, and NBA Finals.

DiVincenzo ended up returning to the Bucks on Christmas Day 2021, but lost his starting role. That led to the Milwaukee-Sacramento deadline deal, one that according to the Villanova product during an interview with The Athletic’s Anthony Slater, came as a surprise (transcript via MassLive’s Brian Robb):

"“So when the trade deadline came, I didn’t know what to expect. I’d heard a ton of rumors. I was in a place where, you know, I loved playing with those guys, but mentally I did wonder if a change of scenery would help. Because I was going into free agency as well. I was still focused on both sides of things. So when I got traded, I was all over the place. Is this great? Is this bad? I thought I was going to Boston.”"

Donte DiVincenzo was a ‘surprise’ free agent target for the Boston Celtics during the 2022 offseason

Back in late June, Donte DiVincenzo was considered a ‘surprise’ free agent target for the Boston Celtics by MassLive’s Brian Robb. Given that he ended up on the Golden State Warriors on a taxpayer’s MLE deal, it’s almost certain Boston was in on the Delaware-born DiVincenzo as well.

It’s somewhat disappointing the northeast native has not ended up in a Celtics uniform thus far considering his complementary shooting prowess, but he does have a player option for 2023-24, so perhaps next summer could present another chance to make that happen.