Donte DiVincenzo says 'focus is to win games,' not crack Knicks' starting five

Donte DiVincenzo is slated to come off the Knicks bench for right now. The new signing will open training camp playing behind Quentin Grimes, and he’s just fine with that.

“That’s not my focus,” DiVincenzo said Monday when asked about his role. “My focus is to win games. Whether I’m starting or coming off the bench. My focus is to win games. I signed a four-year deal here. I plan to be here long term. And ultimately I’m playing a lot of games here with these guys - whether it’s the starting lineup or the closing lineup. Whatever it is, I trust Thibs’ decision-making and go from there.”

The Knicks’ biggest move of the offseason was adding DiVincenzo.  The club hopes that internal development and DiVincenzo's presence helps them build off of last year’s 47-win season, and you can count him as a believer.

“We have a hell of a team first and foremost. We have a hell of a coach. And we’re a deep team,” he said on Media Day.

DiVincenzo drew interest from several teams over the summer, including Minnesota and Chicago. He chose New York over those other suitors for several reasons.

“First and foremost, I’m two hours away from my family, and family is everything to me,” the Delaware native said. “Adding to that, the Nova guys (Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Ryan Arcidiacono) are an extension of my family, Jalen especially.

“But ultimately, I like to win basketball games.”

If the Knicks take a step forward after the success of last season, DiVincenzo will likely play a key role. He’s coming off of a strong season in Golden State. 

The 26-year-old averaged 9.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game for the 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 Steph Curry and Klay Thompson in that category.

If he can replicate that shooting, DiVincenzo will help the Knicks space the floor. He also should keep New York's offense from becoming stagnant. He’s viewed as a strong cutter off the ball.

On defense, DiVincenzo is generally seen as a strong team defender who is adept off the ball, navigating screens and defending passing lanes well. The six-foot-four guard is also an exceptionally strong rebounder for his position.

He brings those attributes to a Knick team that beat almost all expectations last season when they won a first-round playoff series.

The challenge for New York this season is to make progress after surprising most of the league last year. That isn’t a given, especially in an Eastern Conference that is bunched up under Boston and Milwaukee.

“I think that's what we have to be careful (of) is to make an assumption that automatically it'll be better and you go further (automatically),” head coach Tom Thibodeau said. “You don't go further if you don't put the work in each and every day… So even though it's the same team, we have to make sure that we do this as a team. And doing that each and every day. There's no shortcuts in this. You have to put the work into it.”

By all accounts, the work will come easily to DiVincenzo. He seems to fit right into the Knicks’ ‘gym rat’ culture. It also helps that he has experience with Brunson and Hart from Villanova.

The Nova Knicks were a light-hearted topic on Monday. Julius Randle and RJ Barrett couldn’t contain their laughter when a reporter asked Brunson about all four of the Wildcats on this team.

DiVincenzo expects plenty of ‘Nova Knicks’ jokes in the locker room this season. He’ll probably be in the middle of many of them. And he’s OK with that. He won’t be OK with anyone assuming that the Villanova guys have any kind of clique in the locker room.

“I think the big thing for us, is not getting carried away with the Nova stuff. We had a lot of success in college and we’ve had some success in the NBA so far individually,” DiVincenzo said. “But ultimately, I know Jalen, I know Josh, they’re developing relationships with everybody on the team, as am I.

“There’s jokes always throughout the season, ‘Nova Knicks’ and all that stuff. But, ultimately, we know what our goal is and we know how to get there. That’s the stuff we focus on in terms of the Nova stuff; what it takes to go to the national championship in college, what it takes to stay together through adversity.”

There’s no doubt that DiVincenzo and the 'Nova Knicks' will benefit from that knowledge at times during the six-month regular season. If the Knicks’ Nova experiment is a success, that winning mentality will permeate the locker room.

“We can joke around about it,” Brunson said of Wildcats connection. “These guys will joke about the culture change but I know one thing: whenever we’re on that court it’s all about whatever we’re trying to do to win. Wherever the game is at, we’re just trying to (get a win). Happy to have those guys here.”