Trajan Langdon has a history of getting impact players on team-friendly deals, something fans hope continues for the Detroit Pistons.
Finding value for money is one of the most important jobs of a modern NBA GM, especially in the second apron era when there are real penalties for signing the wrong guy.
Finding talent in the second round of the draft and locking up good players on sweetheart deals is going to be vital to team building in the upcoming years as teams can’t just spend lavishly without real impact to their flexibility.
You could argue that guys like Coby White and Herb Jones are even more valuable than their superstar counterparts, as they give you numbers that outproduce their contracts and allow you to invest resources elsewhere.
One of the only positive things that Troy Weaver did last season was trade for Simone Fontecchio, which now looks like a brilliant move after the way he played when he got to Detroit.
Fontecchio was recently named as one of the league’s most underrated players and when you look at his salary vs what he gives you, it’s a title that makes sense.
Simone Fontecchio is a steal for the Detroit Pistons
Troy Weaver may have brought Fontecchio to Detroit, but it was Trajan Langdon who locked him into one of the best value deals in the NBA. I had to make sure I was reading it correctly when I saw that he signed for 2 years/$16 million after averaging 15 points per game on 42 percent shooting from long range. I thought he might get that total per season.
That kind of salary puts him in the range of journeyman veterans like Jeff Green and Trey Lyles, neither of whom make the kind of impact that Fontecchio does on both ends.
He should be even better with a better cast around him next season, as he won’t be the only shooter on the floor as he often was in the 15 games he played for Detroit in the 2023-24 season.
Most of the players in that salary range are either rookies or end-of-career vets, not guys in their prime who do all of the things you want out of a backup wing in the modern NBA.
I wouldn’t be shocked if Fontecchio ends up as more than a bench guy next season, as he has a case for the starting five, even with the addition of Tobias Harris.
Langdon nailed one of the most important parts of the job, which is signing impact players to team-friendly deals. The Pistons have one of the best contracts for money in the league in Fontecchio.