A little over two weeks after the stunning blockbuster trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns from the Wolves to the Knicks, the teams had an odd predicament: They had to play each other in the preseason at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Timberwolves and Knicks drama, with Donte DiVincenzo in the middle
Karl-Anthony Towns was the headliner in the blockbuster trade between the Timberwolves and Knicks. But Donte DiVincenzo produced the most intrigue when the teams met this weekend in a preseason game.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
October 14, 2024 at 4:01PM
Towns was the star attraction as the shiny new piece on the home team. Wolves players and coaches greeted him warmly, with some nice moments and words shared between Towns and star Anthony Edwards.
Julius Randle, one of the key players the Wolves got back in return (and arguably very close to KAT’s equal in terms of production and accolades), was in street clothes for the game and didn’t play.
If you were looking for drama, that only left Donte DiVincenzo — perhaps the key to getting the deal done given his skill set and friendly contract.
As Patrick Reusse and I talked about on Monday’s Daily Delivery podcast, DiVincenzo provided a large dose of spice.
WorldWideWob on X had a great breakdown of what happened.
After making a floater during which he was fouled, DiVincenzo stepped to the free throw line and said this toward the Knicks bench: “Can’t finish, right Thibs? Can’t finish, right?”
It was a playful jab at his former coach, Tom Thibodeau. But it was misheard as, “Thanks for the trade, Thibs.” Once that incorrect interpretation hit social media, it spread like wildfire. The narrative was corrected by DiVincenzo and others later, but who knows how many people still think he said something about the trade.
Where it gets really interesting, though, is the next thing DiVincenzo said twice while still at the line: “That’s what happens when they let you run the show.”
Speculation was that DiVincenzo was barking at Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson, father of star Jalen Brunson, with whom DiVincenzo is very close.
Donte and Rick? Maybe not so close. The two of them came face to face and briefly barked at each other immediately after the game was over before being whisked away to their separate corners.
“My relationship with Jalen, that’s my brother and my best friend,” DiVincenzo said, per ESPN. “That’s a separate relationship. I’ll talk about that privately, and figure everything out. But it is what it is.”
As noted by WorldWideWob, it’s the sort of story that won’t matter in a day or two. High-stakes pro sports are filled with petty beefs that flare up and calm down quickly.
But let’s remember Dec. 19 and Jan. 17. Those are the two regular-season games between the Wolves and Knicks this season.
Here are four more things to know today:
- Only three games into the season, the depth-challenged Wild are already dealing with significant injuries and pinching salary cap pennies. How is this any different from last year?
- The four best teams in the NFL in terms of point differential are the four teams in the NFC North. That should tell you how daunting the rest of this season will be, even for a 5-0 Vikings team at the top of that list (plus-61).
- Reusse likes the Lynx to bring home championship No. 5. I think we’ll know a lot after the first quarter of Game 3 vs. New York at Target Center on Wednesday.
- Andrew Krammer is expected to join me on Tuesday’s podcast for a bye week Vikings film review.
Minnesota Star Tribune sports writer Jim Paulsen wraps up the 2024 high school football season with a statewide, class-crossing football ranking.
