Most disappointing Pistons player may soon be out of the rotation

The Detroit Pistons chose to be patient last summer, supplementing their core with veteran players instead of the scorched earth approach. 

They retained sharpshooter Simone Fontecchio after he had a strong showing in 16 games for the Pistons last season, averaging over 15 points per game and shooting 42.6 from long range. 

When the Pistons got him on a 2 year/$16 million deal it looked like one of the best bargain contracts in the league. 

There was talk in the offseason of moving Fontecchio to the starting five for more shooting and he was expected to be a big part of the rotation either way. 

But the Fontecchio from last season has yet to show himself, and with Ausar Thompson back, he may be playing himself out of the rotation. 

Simone Fontecchio: No shots, no role 

Fontecchio is only playing 18 minutes per game after getting over 30 per contest last season. That was to be expected, as the Pistons are deeper this season, especially at his position after drafting Ron Holland II. 

And the addition of THJ, Harris and Beasley has eaten into his shot attempts, as he is only getting up fewer than five shots per game after averaging nearly 12 attempts last season. 

He’s not making many of the ones he is getting, as Fontecchio is shooting just 36 percent from the floor and 34 percent from long range. 

His dwindling role was clear last night when he only played nine minutes and was a non-factor, with the same number of turnovers (2) as points, rebounds and assists combined. 

When Fontecchio isn’t taking or making shots, he’s really just out there getting cardio, as he doesn’t provide much else. He’s not a terrible defender, but he’s not particularly athletic or big and is somehow averaging 1.3 fouls per game even though he’s playing limited minutes. 

He’s a player without a role and his minutes will likely go down even more in the near future. 

Pistons rotation with Ausar Thompson 

Ausar Thompson made his debut last night and made an instant impact on both ends. He still has to shake off the rust, but he already played 16 minutes last night while Fontecchio got nine while rookie Ron Holland played just over 11 minutes. 

We’ll probably see both Fontecchio and Holland while Thompson gets his legs under him, but soon one of them is likely to be out of the rotation, and right now, it looks like Fontecchio. 

Even though Holland is shooting just 11 percent from long range, he still has a better overall field goal percentage than Fontecchio and is a strong defender who makes plays on defense and in transition, which we saw last night. 

Hopefully, Fontecchio will start hitting shots, but the clock is ticking, and as Thompson’s minutes increase, they are going to have to come at the expense of someone. 

Is Simone Fontecchio trade bait? 

Yes. 

We’ve talked a lot about which players might get moved at the deadline, and right now, Fontecchio has to be considered to be one of them. 

If he’s playing limited minutes and doesn’t have a path to a role, then a team like OKC could be possibility for a trade. Fontecchio’s lowball contract would make him easy to move, and on the right team, he might find a bigger role. 

Let’s hope last year’s Tek returns soon, as the Pistons could use his scoring with Cade Cunningham out.