Since the trade deadline, the Detroit Pistons have experimented with some different starting lineups. This had to do with the new incoming players, along with the suspension of Isaiah Stewart.
Among those who has seen a lot of playing time since arriving in Detroit is Simone Fontecchio. The young forward had arguably one of his best games with the Pistons on Tuesday night against the Miami Heat. Fontecchio logged 29 minutes off the bench and posted a stat line of 22 points, four rebounds, and two assists.
While this outing wasn't enough to help lead his team to a victory, Fontecchio still received a lot of praise for his efforts. Among those to speak out on his play was Pistons coach Monty Williams.
"I love the way he plays the game. You talk about the offense, I thought his defense was rock solid tonight," Williams said postgame. "He’s not a guy who backs down…he guards everybody."
Fontecchio's best stretch in this game came during the end of the first half. He played eight minutes in the second quarter, scoring 11 of his 22 points in this time.
Fontecchio has now played in 10 games since coming over from the Utah Jazz. In that span, he is averaging a career-high 15.0 PPG while shooting 41.5% from beyond the arc on high volume.
Even though he's slightly older than the rest of the team's core, Fontecchio is the kind of connector piece they need. He's a bigger forward that provides versatility on defense while being an effective floor spacer on offense.
With Fontecchio getting ready to enter restricted free agency, the Pistons must make sure retaining him is high on their offseason checklist.
More must-reads: