The New York Knicks have the potential to turn their contending roster in the NBA Eastern Conference into a championship lineup this summer. Doing so will cost them valuable assets. A key contributor for the Knicks in 2023-24 was recently labeled as a viable trade centerpiece for Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell.
ESPN’s NBA front office insider Bobby Marks wrote that the Knicks could send a package to the Cavaliers headlined by Donte DiVincenzo (h/t Geoff Magliocchetti of Fan Nation’s All Knicks):
“A trade sending Bojan Bogdanovic, (Donte) DiVincenzo, and three first-round picks is allowed but only if Anunoby and Isaiah Hartenstein take less in free agency, or New York finds a third team for Mitchell Robinson,” Marks said.
Knicks: Donte DiVincenzo rose to the occasion in 2023-24 & could do so again next season
DiVincenzo was a bright spot for the Knicks from start to finish last season. He permanently took over for Quentin Grimes in the starting lineup 21 games into the year and went on to finish with career-highs of 15.5 points per game and a 40.1 percent clip from the three-point line while setting a franchise record of 283 three-pointers made on the regular season.
The Villanova product also closed out the campaign putting up All-Star-type numbers on both ends of the floor with 21 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.7 blocks a night following All-Star Julius Randle’s season-ending injury and in the midst of a host of other ailments, namely to Mitchell Robinson and later OG Anunoby, that rocked the team.
Is DiVincenzo’s historic season enough to keep him from being traded for the Cavs All-Star?
As good as he was for New York in 2023-24, the Knicks could pair this season’s MVP candidate Jalen Brunson with an All-NBA talent in Mitchell while also retaining their other proven All-NBA talent Randle ahead of the 2024-25 campaign. The Knicks have a hoard of first-round picks over the next four years to make the three they’ll relinquish in this proposed deal expendable and Bogdanovic comes with the territory of making a push for a potential franchise player.
DiVincenzo showed the potential to take another big step in his career last time around. That could come as soon as next season. Though, if he looks like the player he was from the end of January onward, that still might not approximate the impact that Mitchell could have on elevating the Knicks to the top of the Eastern Conference.