Making a true Italian in Simone Fontecchio play in Little Ceasers Pizza Arnea every night seems cruel, but here we are.
The Utah Jazz are trading Fontecchio to the Detroit Pistons for Kevin Knox and a high second-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, a story broken by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Kevin Knox, 2024 second-round pick via Wizards and draft rights to Gabriele Procida to go Jazz in deal, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/GZuvVMbfcb
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 7, 2024
That pick is actually the best of the Wizards’ or Grizzlies’ second-round picks, which means it probably falls in the 31-35 range. That, for the rebuilding Jazz, is more valuable than Fontecchio. (Knox just makes the money work in the trade, he will have to earn rotation minutes in Utah.)
Fontecchio, 28, can play, he has looked like a solid rotation player in Utah and earned his way into the Jazz starting lineup. He is a 6'8" wing averaging 8.9 points a game, shooting 39.1% from 3. He is also in the final year of his contract and heading into restricted free agency. If the Pistons like what they see for the rest of this season, they can retain him.
For the rebuilding Pistons, was getting the Bird rights of a 28-year-old wing more valuable than a high second-round pick? Not that you can ever have enough shooting on the wing, and they can re-sign him at a fair price, but that was a quality pick Detroit just gave up. Something to watch, it gives the Pistons wing depth if they trade Bojan Bogdanovic at the deadline or next offseason.
