Pistons acquiring Simone Fontecchio, sending Kevin Knox to Jazz

February 7, 2024

The Utah Jazz are trading small forward Simone Fontecchio to the Detroit Pistons for forward Kevin Knox, the draft rights to guard Gabriele Procida and a second-round pick, a second-round pick, per NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Fontecchio, 28, is 6-foot-8 and is averaging 8.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists, shooting 45 percent from the field and 39 percent on 3-pointers in his second NBA season.

Knox, 24, is 6-7 and has become sort of a journeyman since the New York Knicks selected him with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

He is averaging 7.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists, shooting 46 percent from the field and 33 percent on threes. Along with the Pistons and Knicks, Knox has spent time with the Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers. He scored a career-high 12.8 points as a rookie with New York but hasn’t hit double figures since.

The draft pick being sent to the Jazz is a 2024 second-rounder via the Washington Wizards, per Wojnarowski.

Procida, 21, is 6-7 and a native of Italy. He’s currently playing for German club Alba Berlin. The Portland Trail Blazers selected him with the No. 36 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft and immediately traded his rights to Detroit. It’s not believed he’s in any big rush to get to the NBA.

“Fontecchio will be a restricted free agent this summer and Pistons made trade to keep him as part of the franchise’s longer-term core. Fontecchio had a lot of suitors at the trade deadline — and Pistons land him for an early second-round pick and draft rights to Procida,” Wojnarowski wrote.