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Miami Heat training camps are considered among the toughest in the NBA, but Simone Fontecchio had already experienced something even more demanding under Dusko Ivanovic at Baskonia. “Last year, Spoelstra asked me whether Miami’s training camp was the hardest I had ever experienced,” Fontecchio told the YouTube channel La Giornata Tipo. “I said that, if it made him happy, I could say it was. In the NBA, yes. But not in my entire life.”
Fontecchio joined Baskonia immediately after representing Italy at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. His Olympic campaign ended on August 8, while Ivanovic’s preseason began two days later. “I was still in Japan and had to stop in Italy, so I very timidly asked Dusko if I could arrive later,” he recalled. “He said: ‘Of course. We start on the 10th, but you can come on the 12th.’” After a 13-hour journey, Fontecchio reached Vitoria around lunchtime and assumed he would be given time to recover. “Dusko told me: ‘Go and complete your physical tests. Practice is scheduled for 4 p.m., but don’t worry—we’ll move it to 6 p.m. so you can join us.’”
In a Zoom session with reporters on Friday morning, Heat forward Simone Fontecchio said he’s excited about playing with Giannis Antetokounmpo and said it was an easy decision to return to Miami, even on a minimum deal that will pay him $2.6 million next season. Fontecchio, who became the second person in the organization to speak extensively about the not-yet-announced Antetokounmpo trade, said the two-time MVP “can make life for other people around me so much easier. I know people who play with him in previous teams. As a shooter that’s something you look for. [There will be] more room [for shooters]: It’s going to make my life so much easier. I hope to make his life easier too.”
Speaking of his own decision to re-sign, he said: “I always wanted to stay in Miami. Last week, they said, ‘Listen we don’t have much room to operate.’ [But] my thought process was I want to stay here. I want to put some continuity to what I was doing here. There is a real big opportunity for the Heat with the Giannis trade and what it’s going to mean for the franchise and city.”
He said he spoke to Spoelstra before re-signing at the minimum. “I wanted to talk to him directly,” Fontecchio said. “We had a great conversation. I wanted to ask him a couple things. It wasn’t like he had to convince me. I was pretty much convinced. Hearing his voice, hearing his thought process and wanting me to stay helped me.” He said he “didn’t want to ask” about whether he would be a rotation player: “I’m not the type of guy that asks for reassurance. It’s dumb for me to ask for a guarantee. I know my role last year [as an occasional rotation player]. “I’m always ready, [a guy who] doesn’t complain, always positive in the locker room.”
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Shams Charania: Free agent Simone Fontecchio intends to sign a one-year deal to return to the Miami Heat, sources tell ESPN. Heat officials worked with Fontecchio's agent at Excel Sports Management, Sam Goldfeder, to bring back the shooter who averaged 8.5 points and 37.5% 3-point shooting.
Fontecchio said he would prefer not to relocate again and is happy with both his personal and professional situation in Miami. “I’d love to stay here,” Fontecchio told Italy’s Sky Sports. “I wouldn’t want to move my family again because we’re great in Miami. “Just as importantly, I feel really comfortable with everyone here, from the owners to the coaching staff, and especially in this locker room, which is special because of the group it’s created.”
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In an interview with Sky Sports, Fontecchio praised the culture around Miami and talked about his season: "I'm overall satisfied, even though it's been a season with a few ups and downs on a personal level," he started. "I started off really well, and that raised everyone's expectations a bit. Then, in December, I didn't perform well. I'll be the first to admit it. And with the return of some key teammates, especially Tyler Herro, I lost a few minutes. But overall, I'm happy." Italian forward confirmed his intent to re-sign with the Heat if the team is interested to do so: "I'd love to, but we all know how the business works here, and nothing is really a given. For the first time, however, I'll be an unrestricted free agent, so I too can choose my own future. I'd love to stay here." "I wouldn't want to move my family again because we're great in Miami, and just as importantly, I feel really comfortable with everyone here, from the owners to the coaching staff, and especially in this locker room, which is special because of the group it's created. I'll talk to the club at the end of the season, but my hope is to stay here," he concluded.
Anthony Chiang: Nikola Jovic (ankle) and Dru Smith (toe sprain) out for tomorrow's regular-season finale vs. Hawks. Norman Powell (groin) is questionable. Simone Fontecchio (ankle soreness) is probable. Tyler Herro and Davion Mitchell listed as available.
