Detroit Pistons’ New Deal for Veteran Considered a Bargain

Did the Detroit Pistons get Simone Fontecchio back with a bargain deal?

Feb 10, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Norman Powell (24) drives past Detroit Pistons Simone Fontecchio (19) in the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Playing the 2024 trade market deadline as sellers, the Detroit Pistons correctly made a lot of moves that signaled the team was still in the midst of a rebuild. However, one of their veteran acquisitions was intriguing enough to consider keeping around.

A deal with the Utah Jazz involved trading away Kevin Knox, a second-round pick, and NBA rights to Gabriele Procida. In landing Simone Fontecchio, the Pistons picked up an Italian sharpshooter who played professionally outside of the NBA since 2016.

In 2022, Fontecchio joined the Utah Jazz for his rookie season. As he went through his sophomore campaign in the NBA, Fontecchio found a change of scenery after his final 50 games with the Jazz. When he landed with the Pistons, Fontecchio not only saw a significantly positive uptick in production but he was sold on the organization and wanted to stick around.

When free agency opened up earlier this month, Fontecchio hit the market as a restricted player with a qualifying offer on the table from Detroit. It’s unclear if another team attempted to lure Fontecchio away from the Pistons, but Detroit stuck to the plan.

Fontecchio landed a two-year contract offer from the Pistons. The 29-year-old inked without hesitation, signing on for the next couple of seasons.

In the eyes of Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale, Fontecchio is a top-five underrated player in the NBA. He ranks just ahead of Santi Aldama of the Memphis Grizzlies.

“The fluidity and agility with which Fontecchio moves makes you forget that he's 6'8". While he doesn't have a bankable pull-up jumper in his arsenal, he does bust out escape dribbles on aggressive closeouts, a counter he parlays into more pressure at the rim than you'd think for someone in his role,” writes Favale.

Prior to seeing his season get cut short due to an injury, Fontecchio earned a 16-game sample size with the Pistons following the trade deadline. He saw a six-point bump in scoring. On the glass, he averaged one more rebound. From the field, Fontecchio increased his percentage by three percent and improved by four percent from beyond the arc.

“If this reads like an ode to someone who's worth more than a two-year, $16 million deal, well, that's exactly what's happening here,” Favale added. “And yet, Fontecchio is on a two-year, $16 million contract that immediately ranks among the NBA's best (and most inexplicable) bargains.”

Fontecchio was initially viewed as a player who could garner Tobias Harris-type money in free agency this offseason. The Pistons signed the veteran forward on a two-year deal worth $52 million. That’s a steep difference, and for those who believed Fontecchio could earn something in Harris’ range, it’s hard to disagree with the notion that Detroit landed a bargain with the soon-to-be third-year sharpshooter.

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