In a surprising trade, Donte DiVincenzo joined the Minnesota Timberwolves, arriving alongside Julius Randle from the New York Knicks in exchange for Karl-Anthony Towns. During a recent media session, DiVincenzo reflected on his time with the Golden State Warriors and shared some crucial takeaways from playing alongside Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
In particular, DiVincenzo spoke about how Curry and Thompson taught him the art of moving without the ball—a key component of Golden State’s offensive system.
“Just being with Steph, being with Klay, just the non-stop moving,” DiVincenzo said. “What I picked up is the moving of the whole 24 seconds. Never standing still, because when you’re standing still, the defense is resting when you’re not moving around. They’re going to mess up at some point, it might be within the first five, six, seven seconds of a clock, or it might be the last two or three seconds.”
“You may not get the shot, but when you’re moving around and you’re making it hard for the defense, somebody else might get the shot,” he continued. “That’s the only thing you can hope for—creating an open shot for your teammates.”
Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors high fives Donte DiVincenzo #0 during the second quarter against the Sacramento Kings. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Anthony Edwards reflects on lessons from Curry
Donte DiVincenzo isn’t the only Timberwolves player who has learned from Stephen Curry. Minnesota’s rising star, Anthony Edwards, also picked up some valuable lessons from Curry during their time together at Team USA’s training camp ahead of the Olympics.
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“I think that was the best part about the whole thing—the practices,” Edwards said during Timberwolves Media Day. “The best thing I learned was from Steph. I took Bron’s pre-game routine, but with Steph, it was all about playing without the ball.“
“The last few days, we’ve been playing five-on-five, and I just keep cutting, getting out of the way, and I’m getting easy shots,” Edwards added. “I think I learned the most from Steph.”
