Donte DiVincenzo Drafted by Bucks; Bomani Jones Loves Giannis Pairing

Former Villanova guard Donte DiVincenzo was far from a first-round lock when he announced his intention to test the NBA draft waters following his redshirt sophomore season. 

But thanks to a stellar performance in the national championship game and a standout showing at last month's NBA combine, the Milwaukee Bucks jumped at the opportunity to select DiVincenzo at No. 17 overall during the 2018 NBA draft Thursday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. 

ESPN's Bomani Jones enjoyed the pick:

DiVincenzo didn't grab many headlines last season at Villanova—those honors belonged to Wooden Award winner Jalen Brunson and swingman Mikal Bridges—but he displayed marked improvement by averaging 13.4 points on 48.1 percent shooting from the field, including 40.1 percent from three. 

The Delaware native continued to pitch in meaningful contributions throughout Villanova's NCAA tournament run, and he raised his profile in a big way in the national title game against Michigan. In 37 minutes on the game's biggest stage, DiVincenzo poured in a game-high 31 points on 10-of-15 shooting (5-of-8 from three) en route to capturing the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player Award. 

Donte DiVincenzo Goes Off in the National Championship Game

"He made himself a lot of money," LeBron James said after Villanova's second title in three years, per Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor. "That's the first thing I thought. Obviously, I'm not with the whole college thing, so I don't care about that. He made himself a lot of money last night and not because of the way he was shooting, but he was doing it all."

DiVincenzo also earned some coin at the combine by recording the top standing vertical leap (34 ½") and tying the top max vertical leap (42") among all participants, regardless of position. 

Thanks to his above-the-rim athleticism and smooth catch-and-shoot capabilities, DiVincenzo is the type of bouncy wing who should be able to slide into a bit part upon his arrival in the NBA before developing into a full-time regular in a rotation.