Donte DiVincenzo bursted into the the national spotlight after a phenomenal performance vs Michigan in the National Championship. Donte had 31 points 5 rebounds and 2 blocks on 10-15 shooting. He won the tournaments Most Outstanding Player award.
After his performance vs Michigan, he shot up draft boards and was drafted by Milwaukee with the 17th pick. He had a rough rookie year as he only played in 27 games and averaged 5 PPG on bad efficiency.
Many people, including myself had written Donte off as a bust. However, he used this as fuel to get better, and he did.
Coming into his second season, he saw a larger role and even started some games early in the season due to Khris Middleton and Eric Bledsoe being injured. He took full advantage of those games. He has started in 22 games this year and he averaged 8.5 PPG on 45% from the field.
Once Khris and Bledsoe came back into the starting lineup, he came off of the bench and slowly became the best player off of the Bucks bench this year. He brings energy, shooting and defense off of the bench. Overall, this season he has averaged 9.4 PPG 4.9 RPG and a team high 1.4 SPG.
Donte really was hitting his stride in March before the Hiatus.
In March he averaged 13 PPG 6 RPG and 3 APG on great efficiency. In his last 3 games before the hiatus, he scored 19 points, 17 points and 16 points all while shooting over 49% from the field.
If the season resumes, look for Donte to provide a much needed boost off of the bench for the Bucks in the playoffs.
Next year, Wesley Matthews has a player option with Milwaukee. Regardless if he come back, I think Donte will be the starting SG for the Milwaukee Bucks. His hustle, defense, energy and scoring ability will set himself up for a long and successful career in the NBA.
Photo: NumberFire
