Donte DiVincenzo responds to rumors about his departure from the Knicks

Donte DiVincenzo was reportedly unhappy with the New York Knicks before moving to the Minnesota Timberwolves, but the guard is now publicly denying this.

DiVincenzo said before Sunday's preseason game that he was unhappy with claims that he was unhappy with the prospect of being replaced in the starting lineup by Mikal Bridges ahead of the new season. The former Villanova star added that he hasn't even given much thought to his role since nothing is set yet.

“I don’t know how this gained such speed, but it’s completely wrong,” DiVincenzo told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “You can look at the team I am in right now – there will be some games where I start and there will be a lot of games where I come off the bench.

“Of course everyone wants to start over after the season I had last year, but I also understand that there are different lineups and different combinations that teams want to achieve – I understand that.” It was never about: ” Oh, we have Mikal, I’m pissed.’ I was super excited. … There was never any conversation about my role being diminished. It never happened that my minutes were reduced. It was an outside assumption that came with it and it was untrue.”

DiVincenzo started 63 games for the Knicks last season, but was expected to go to the bench after joining Bridges. According to some reports, DiVincenzo was unhappy about this and was sent to the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of the Karl Anthony Towns deal.

DiVincenzo averaged 15.5 points per game for the Knicks last year and shot 40 percent from three-point range for the first time in his NBA career.