(Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)
Last week, the Miami Heat acquired Simone Fontecchio from the Detroit Pistons as the lone returning piece in the Duncan Robinson sign-and-trade.
The Heat will be Fontecchio’s third NBA team in four years after signing a two-year contract with the Utah Jazz ahead of the 2022-23 season. He blossomed with Detroit upon being traded there at the deadline in 2023-24, but saw his role shrink last year, averaging just 16.5 minutes per game.
In a recent interview with BasketNews, Fontecchio, 29, recalled a special moment with now-Houston Rockets superstar and 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant, when he was still with the Suns.
“I was just got traded to the Pistons, and one of the first few games that I played with Detroit was against Phoenix, where Kevin Durant was playing at that time,” Fontecchio recalled. “During a break in the game, Durant came up to me and told me, ‘We tried everything we could to get you here, but we couldn’t do it.’ It was a great show of respect from a champion of the game and it made me realize how much he thought of me.”
Fontecchio had a very strong second season split between Utah and Detroit before suffering a season-ending toe injury in March of 2024. In 66 combined games (43 starts), he averaged 10.5 points and 3.7 rebounds on 46.0 percent shooting and 40.1 percent from 3-point range, where he attempted north of five triple tries per game.
At the time, the Suns were desperate for any ancillary production outside of Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal and Grayson Allen. They acquired Royce O’Neale at the deadline, in addition to David Roddy, while also adding veterans Thaddeus Young (buyout) and Isaiah Thomas.
Now, Fontecchio will join a Heat rotation, spearheaded by Tyler Herro, Bam Adebayo, Andrew Wiggins, Davion Mitchell and newly-acquired Norman Powell. We still don’t know what the final roster will look like because there are still moves to be made, but Fontecchio could garner a role at the back of the Heat’s rotation with Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jovic, Haywood Highsmith, Keshad Johnson and Pelle Larsson all fighting for minutes.
The 6-foot-8 sharpshooter likened his skillset to Duncan Robinson in his first press conference with Heat reporters this week. He’s far more unseasoned than Robinson was, but there’s still plenty of room for growth despite the fourth-year wing pushing 30-years-old.
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