The amount of successful, smart moves attempted by Troy Weaver can be counted on one hand. Anyone who watched the 14-win season last year knows this all too well. One move that, at least at the time, looked to be a win for Weaver was acquiring sophomore wing from the Utah Jazz, Simone Fontecchio. Now, an extension later, it’s fair for fans to start questioning even this one-time winning trade for the Detroit Pistons.
I remember watching the Jazz play Detroit last year and getting lit up. Almost every team dominated Detroit last year, so that was nothing new. What was, though, was the guy who was doing it. Someone named Simone Fontecchio was taking it to the Pistons, playing basketball that I was supremely jealous of.
Simone was just a second year player out of Italy, but was already 28 years old. And he was suddenly on Detroit’s radar after dropping 16 points with a +/- of +13, and 16 with a +/- of +2 on the Pistons. Across both games, he shot the three ball at a clip of 64%.
Just as fans saw Fontecchio performing well for a Jazz team that, at the time, had good depth, the Pistons front office did too. Come deadline time, one of the final moves of the Weaver era was to trade Kevin Knox (again), overseas draft-and-stash Gabriele Procida and a future second round pick for the Italian sharp-shooter.
On the surface level, most fans were happy with the deal. After watching what he did against Detroit, it was apparent that Fontecchio was an above average three point shooter, good defender, and had decent size for a wing. However, once given the proper minutes here in Detroit, Simone proved to be even better than that.
Post Deadline Emergence
Pre-deadline and still with Utah, Simone Fontecchio was averaging 8.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 stock, and 39% 3PT% on 23 minutes per night. Post-deadline, here in Detroit, Simone saw his numbers skyrocket. While a smaller sample size, Font averaged 15.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.2 stocks and shot a scorching 42% from three. His minutes per night were upped to 30, and he was looking like a true steal.
Given the opportunity, Fontecchio was making the most of his minutes and finished the year as one of the best, if not THE best, corner three point shooter. He was creating well and quickly becoming a fan favorite here in the Motor City. Detroit’s front office, seeing this as well, quickly signed Simone to an extension this offseason, one that at the time was great value, but most fans wanted an extra year. Font signed a $16 million, 2 year deal, fully guaranteed. That lack of an extra year may now be a blessing.
Now under the tutelage of JB Bickerstaff and Trajan Langdon, with actual talent and skill surrounding them, most of Detroit’s players have excelled. Fontecchio, however, has been nothing but disappointing this year thus far.
At the time of this writing, he’s averaging just 6.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, .8 assists, .5 stocks and is 34% from the perimeter. Fontecchio is seeing a decline in every category, and subsequently, minutes as well. There obviously have been games in which Simone shows flashes of his form from last year, and as his minutes decline his stats obviously will further dip, but the concerns are looming larger and larger.
So where to go with Simone Fontecchio?
There are two options for Detroit and Fontecchio going forward. The first is that he is simply taking longer to adjust to the new system Bickerstaff has put in place, and he begins to retake form, albeit coming off the bench, and provides Detroit’s second unit with a reliable offensive punch. This is obviously the best case scenario as everyone here in Detroit loves Tek and thinks he can be a true piece for this team. Oh, and he has one of the best three point celebrations in the NBA.
The other option is, teams see his production from last year, see the potential on a team-friendly contract, and trade for the Italian swing-man. Obviously I would love for option one to come true, as Font is a great player to watch and cheer for. But only time will tell.