Golden State Warriors’ guard Donte DiVincenzo is set to depart the franchise in the coming weeks, with the 26-year-old expected to opt out of his $4.7 million player option for next season and become an unrestricted free agent.
Despite reduced impact during the postseason, DiVincenzo was undoubtedly one of the positives of the Warriors’ season. The fifth-year guard proved one of the most valuable free agent signings of last offseason, playing well above his $4.5 million salary.
Unsurprisingly, Donte DiVincenzo’s strong 2022-23 season is expected to price him out of the Golden State Warriors’ budget come free agency.
DiVincenzo’s time at the Warriors is set to be limited to just one season, with the 2021 NBA champion having re-established enough value to garner a reasonable deal this offseason. Providing the latest intel on a number of relevant names around the league, Hoopshype’s Michael Scotto confirmed the expectation of DiVincenzo’s departure from Golden State, and revealed what kind of deal we could see him sign come free agency.
"Golden State would be able to re-sign DiVincenzo for up to four years, $23.2 million if he declines his player option, which would give him only a $5.4 million starting salary…One NBA executive told HoopsHype he believes DiVincenzo is worth the non-taxpayer mid-level exception”, Scotto wrote."
For the 2023-24 season, the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception is worth $12.2 million. That’s a very predictable number for DiVincenzo who averaged 9.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists on 39.7% from beyond the arc during the regular season.
It’s also a range that’s well over two-times what the Warriors can offer, leaving them well out of the ball park to retain the former Villanova product. However, it’s not like this will come as any surprise to the Golden State front office, with this situation first projected on Blue Man Hoop in early January.
"“It almost guarantees that DiVincenzo will opt out of his player option for next season, allowing him to hit the market again. With no bird rights on him, Golden State will be limited to offering him 120% of this season’s contract — that’s about $5.4 million.”“That’s way unders for what he’s producing at the moment, and it’s looking like another Gary Payton II situation where an opposing team offers $8-10 million per season. At least the Warriors could have matched Portland’s offer to Payton if they’d wished, but they’ll have no such luxuries with DiVincenzo.”"
It will be interesting to see whether the Warriors have a contingency target in place, or whether their DiVincenzo replacement actually came through re-acquiring Gary Payton II at February’s trade deadline. Their free agency decisions will also be influenced by what, if anything, the franchise does with Jordan Poole this offseason.