Timberwolves’ Donte DiVincenzo clarifies Tom Thibodeau trash talk

When a player is traded from a team less than a month before the new season starts and then faces that team just two weeks later, the wounds are bound to still be somewhat raw. During Sunday’s NBA preseason game, speculation ran rampant that Donte DiVincenzo called out New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau regarding the big trade that shipped him, Julius Randle and draft picks to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Karl-Anthony Towns.

The seventh-year guard made a basket midway through the first quarter while also drawing a foul. As DiVincenzo prepared to complete the three-point play, he looked towards his former coach and said what many believed to be “thanks for the trade.” He then also exchanged words with Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson, father of All-Star Jalen Brunson, which later led to a tense postgame interaction (Jalen and others had to get in between the two men).

DiVincenzo did not specifically share details on the Brunson situation, but he did outright deny the social media theories.

“I didn’t say thanks for the trade,” he told the media after the Timberwolves’ 115-110 loss to the Knicks, via SiriusXM NBA’s Rob Perez. “I was joking to Thibs about not being able to finish and giving him a hard time… I didn’t say anything about the trade.”

Video clips with enhanced audio, via New York Basketball, back up DiVincenzo’s claim. The former first-round pick says, “can’t finish right, Thibs?” He does not appear to be smiling, however, and the content of what is actually said does not exactly convey a “let’s grab drinks after this” kind of vibe, but there is no mention of the blockbuster deal.