Pistons Reserve Leaves Cade Cunningham Impressed vs. Miami Heat

It hasn’t taken very long for Simone Fontecchio to hit his stride with the Detroit Pistons.

At this point, the Italian sharpshooter is consistently impressing his teammates and making life easy on the court for Pistons star Cade Cunningham.

“I’m definitely impressed,” Cunningham told reporters, discussing the impact of the trade acquisition. “I can’t say I’m super surprised, though.”

Fontecchio joined the Pistons nearly a month ago. As the NBA reached the trade deadline, the Pistons struck multiple deals before the clock ran out. As the Utah Jazz called for Kevin Knox, the Pistons parted ways with their veteran to land Fontecchio, a 2017 undrafted prospect who has played outside of the NBA up until 2022.

During his final go-round in Utah, Fontecchio started in 34 of the 50 games he appeared in. Spending 23 minutes on the court per night, Fontecchio drained 39 percent of his threes while producing nine points per game.

Leading up to Tuesday’s matchup between the Pistons and the Miami Heat, Fontecchio had nine games under his belt with the Pistons. While he started in five of those games, the Pistons have been testing a rotation that features Fontecchio off the bench.

On Tuesday, he starred in his role against the Heat.

Seeing the court for nearly 30 minutes off the bench, Fontecchio attempted 16 shots, with 12 of them coming from beyond the arc. He drilled 42 percent of his threes, scoring 22 points. Fontecchio came second in scoring for Detroit, trailing Cunningham by one point.

In a game where the Pistons couldn’t overcome the Heat, Detroit found a silver lining as they continue to see great value in their trade acquisition from the Jazz.

“His IQ for the game, his feel for the game, you can throw him out there with anybody, and he could figure it out,” Cunningham continued on Fontecchio. “He’s been huge for us. He’s made the game a lot easier for us. So we’re going to continue to get more acclimated to him, and he’s going to continue to figure out our system more, and we’ll continue to gel.”

Since joining the Pistons, Fontecchio is averaging career-highs in scoring and three-point shooting by averaging 14 points while knocking down 42 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.

This summer, the Italian reserve will become a restricted free agent as his two-year contract expires. As long as he continues to show these flashes and make life easy for Cunningham, Fontecchio will have no issue keeping the Pistons interested in his services.