Simone Fontecchio of the Detroit Pistons
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MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - APRIL 13: Simone Fontecchio #19 of the Detroit Pistons walks backcourt during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum on April 13, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
The Detroit Pistons have been one of the teams most prominently featured in the NBA’s pre-free agency news cycle, in both good and bad ways. And a new report states that, in addition to having their names attached to almost every mid-range free agent available, they are also taking feedback on the trade market for one of their current players.
According to a report from Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Pistons are “gauging the trade market” on three-year veteran wing Simone Fontecchio, who is entering the last season of his contract. Despite being heavily in the market for help on the wings in particular, Scotto reports that the Pistons are at least taking calls on Fontecchio, potentially with a view to moving off of his contract and opening up more salary cap space.
The Big Wing Question
Entering this offseason, the Pistons were faced with each of Dennis Schröder, Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr all heading to free agency, creating serious vacancies in the backcourt and wing rotations. With Schröder expected to sign with the Sacramento Kings despite openly wanting to say, and Beasley placed in an indefinite holding pattern due to his involvement in an investigation into gambling, that need has become only more pressing.
To this end, the Pistons are heavily attached to Nickeil Alexander-Walker, one of the best remaining shooting guard candidates in the free agency market, and have also begun to be linked to the versatile Caris LeVert of the Atlanta Hawks. LeVert, however, is not nearly the caliber of shooter that Beasley and Hardaway Jr are, and it was their barrage of multi-positional shooting that was at the core of their history-making turnaround season.
It begs the question, then, as to why Fontecchio would now also be made available. He, too, is a shooter. And to lose him as well would turn a strength into a weakness.
Pistons Might Be Opening Up Cap Space
Detroit’s motivation for a Fontecchio trade may simply be financial.
Depending on how they handle their cap holds and/or time their signings, the Pistons can choose to operate as either an over-the-cap or under-the-cap team. If Schroder and Beasley leaves, as now seems inevitable, the second option becomes more likely. If they are to operate with cap space, then, it makes sense to get as much as possible.
Fontecchio has one more season on his contract that is set to pay him $8,307,692 in 2025-26. For an experienced wing shooting option with size, it is a decent price. That said, Fontecchio’s 2024-25 season was not a good one.
Turning 30 in December, Fontecchio averaged 5.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in 75 games off the bench for the Pistons last season, but the three-point shooting that makes up the bulk of his game fell away. He shot only 33.0% from outside on the year, down from 40.1% in 2023-24, and was left out of the playoff rotation entirely.
Fontecchio underperformed his contract, and represents an excess on the books. The Pistons can afford to pay him, but would rather have the cap space and the opportunities it opens up. The problem will be, other teams will have seen him underperform too, and cap space/relief is hard to come by around the league given the widespread issues surrounding the second apron.
Any trade of Fontecchio, then, will either be as a salary-filling part of a larger deal, or as a salary dump to accommodate a larger signing. The latter will cost an asset, something that only makes sense to give up if there is a candidate worth creating cap space for. If neither is possible, though, Fontecchio might as well stay. After all, without Malik Beasley, the Pistons will need another shooter.