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Simone Fontecchio Rumors
There were some strong rumbles last month that Miami was looking to offload Fontecchio. But that was before the Haywood Highsmith-to-Brooklyn trade that gave the Heat some financial wiggle room under the luxury tax ... and before Fontecchio delivered a reminder of his shooting prowess with those seven 3s Sunday.
Simone Fontecchio drops 39 as Italy tops Bosnia in Eurobasket
Ira Winderman: Heat's Simone Fontecchio with a breakout performance for Italy in Sunday's 96-79 EuroBasket victory over Bosnia Herzegovina, closes with 39 points on 13 of 20, including 7 of 10 on 3s, and 8 rebounds. Heat's Larsson (Sweden), Jovic (Serbia) off today.
FIBA EuroBasket: Simone Fontecchio has broken Italy's all-time #EuroBasket scoring record . 39 - Simone Fontecchio | 2025; 36 - Andrea Bargnani | 2011; 33 - Antonello Riva | 1989; 33 - Danilo Gallinari | 2015; 32 - Antonello Riva | 1987
Ira Winderman: Heat's Simone Fontecchio closes 1 of 11 for Italy in 75-66 loss to Giannis and Greece at EuroBasket. Fontecchio was 0 for 10 before late 3-pointer. Also had five rebounds, three steals in his 34:03. Giannis with 31 points.
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Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra spent much of last week in Europe, and for good reason. Not only does the Heat have three current players preparing to take part in this year’s EuroBasket tournament, but two of those players are recent Heat draft picks who are part of the organization’s youth movement. Heat forward Simone Fontecchio will represent his home country of Italy, Heat forward Nikola Jovic is on Serbia’s roster and Heat guard Pelle Larsson is playing for Sweden, with Jovic and Larsson among the seven players on Miami’s roster who are 25 or younger. That had Spoelstra traveling through Europe last week, spending time in Stockholm to watch Larsson represent Sweden in a EuroBasket prep game against Estonia before heading to Belgrade to watch Jovic play for the Serbian national team in an exhibition against Slovenia.
Simone Fontecchio: The NBA is work, the national team is fun
"The NBA is work, the national team is fun. But without a medal, I wouldn't be happy," says Simone Fontecchio, star of the national team, the only Italian player left in the NBA. It's hard to be happy when you leave an event without a medal. If I said I was happy with a tenth-place finish coming home from the European Championships, I'd be saying a lot...
"Clearly it's a responsibility, but above all it's a privilege. I take it very serenely and happily, honestly, because it's a role I enjoy. Clearly, it doesn't happen to everyone, so I welcome it with a great sense of responsibility, pride, and positivity." At almost thirty, with two young daughters, spending even summers away from family is starting to feel like a burden. But Simone sees the NBA as work, business, and the national team as fun. "Being in a group with these guys I've known for 15 years, representing Italy is still a great experience and makes being away from Rosa and the girls less painful."
And the rumors a few weeks ago about a possible release by the Heat? Simone Fontecchio: “In Italy news often arrives late and poorly translated. Since July 4, I’ve been a Miami player and I’m facing a new adventure. Then, we all know the NBA rules and we know that anything can happen.”
In front of a sold-out PalaDozza, Gianmarco Pozzecco’s team extended its friendly-game winning streak to 4-0, taking down Argentina 84-72. Simone Fontecchio (19 points and 3 steals) and Baskonia‘s newest point guard Matteo Spagnolo (18 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists) were the main protagonists
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Italy continued their unbeaten summer run ahead of EuroBasket 2025 with a convincing 91–75 win over Latvia in Trieste. Simone Fontecchio was the standout performer, scoring 21 points, while Pippo Ricci added 16. Nicolò Melli (13), Matteo Spagnolo (12), and Marco Spissu (11) also reached double figures.
Today, Sunday, July 27, Simone Fontecchio joined the Italbasket training camp in Folgaria. The new Miami Heat player had an agreement with the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP) to join the camp on Wednesday, July 30, but just like in 2023, he chose to arrive earlier to be as close to the team as possible. However, he will still have to wait until July 30 to begin training with coach Pozzecco’s squad, in order to comply with FIBA-NBA regulations governing the participation and activities of NBA players with their national teams.
Italy’s preparing to compete at FIBA EuroBasket 2025, eager to do better than reaching the Quarter-Finals, their result at the last EuroBasket played in 2022. In order to do so, Gianmarco Pozzecco’s team was able to involve a new asset for the Italian national team, as Donte DiVincenzo officially got Italian citizenship. Today, he was inserted into the 18-man extended list ahead of the preparation for the biggest appointment of the summer. Therefore, Italy now has two active players on their roster, with both Donte DiVincenzo and Simone Fontecchio, who are set to represent the country at the highest stage.
The Italian wing revealed in the interview that after he arrived in Detroit, he received an unexpected sign of respect from one of the best players in the league, Kevin Durant. "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 explained. "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".
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