Stephen Curry details what Donte DiVincenzo brings to Knicks: 'He's all about winning'
Two-time MVP Steph Curry thinks the Knicks made a wise decision in signing Donte DiVincenzo.
“He’s all about basketball, he’s all about winning. He brings great energy to the locker room,” the Warriors star said on Thursday while discussing his golf game ahead of the American Century Championships. “I used to call him the vet even though he’s still on the younger side, just because he’s got that kind of spirit about him. He plays way beyond his years. He’s good on both sides of the ball, he can play-make better than most people probably realize. So he fills a lot of holes on a team.”
DiVincenzo averaged 9.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game last season with the Golden State Warriors. He put up those numbers in just 26 minutes per game. He also hit 39.7 percent of his three-point attempts last year, trailing only Curry and Klay Thompson in that category.
The Knicks targeted DiVincenzo early in the offseason. They signed him to a four-year $50 million deal on the second day of free agency, reuniting him with Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart.
Curry said on Thursday that he understood DiVincenzo leaving Golden State for the opportunity to play a bigger role in New York.
“He’s not selfish in the respect of – I know he wants to start and be that guy – but he also understands where value can be created on a team no matter what the role you're asked to do is,” Curry, a four-time NBA champion said. “He bought in right away and he got rewarded for it.”
Curry recalled talking to DiVincenzo in the 2022 offseason, when the 26-year-old was considering Golden State in free agency.
“I know he was coming off of injury and trying to find a situation that could help him establish who he is as an NBA player and how much value he brings to winning teams. And he proved that above and beyond with us all year,” Curry said. “He knows how to play the game. You can tell. He won at the highest level in college. And the Knicks got a good one. I'm happy that he got his fair share of that CBA too. So it was good.”
Curry is listed as a 12-1 favorite at the American Century Championship, a tournament for celebrities that has raised $7 million for charity.
The field also includes Dell Curry, Charles Barkley, Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and John Elway. The celebrities are competing for $600,000 in prize money.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE KNICKS?
New York still has roughly $750,000 of its non-taxpayer mid-level exception left after the DiVincenzo deal. The Knicks can also sign players via the veteran’s minimum exception or biannual exception (the biannual starts at $4.5 million.)
They are running up against the luxury tax threshold of $165 million. It’s possible that the Knicks don’t want to exceed the luxury tax, given the onerous tax bills that could come in future seasons. But I don’t get the sense that there is a directive to stay under the tax from Knicks governor James Dolan. There is a salary threshold that the Knicks can’t pass; since New York used its mid-level exception on DiVincenzo, the club cannot exceed $172 million in team salary.
Other moves on the horizon: a potential trade of Evan Fournier and the Josh Hart extension. One team tracking the value of expiring contracts in trades says New York places a high value on Fournier’s contract, which is for $18.8 million in 2023-24 and has a team option in 2024-25. Hart is eligible for an extension for as long as four years and as much as $81 million. I would expect it to come in at under the max number.
