Free agent wing Duncan Robinson is headed to the Pistons on a three-year, $48MM contract via a sign-and-trade, Shams Charania of ESPN reports (via Twitter ). Detroit is sending backup forward Simone Fontecchio to Miami in the deal, Charania adds in another tweet .
While there are no options on the third year of the deal, per Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter
links
), it’s only partially guaranteed in year two and non-guaranteed in year three. Contracts signed via sign-and-trade must cover at least three seasons.
Robinson terminated his contract with the Heat in order to become a free agent. Had Robinson opted into the final year of his deal, his $19.9MM salary for ’25/26 would have become partially guaranteed for $9.9MM, which would have forced Miami to decide whether to guarantee his remaining $10MM or waive him in order to create $10MM in savings.
He’ll now join a Pistons team in need of shooting after losing Tim Hardaway Jr. and Dennis Schröder in free agency while their top three-point threat this past season and another unrestricted free agent, Malik Beasley , is under investigation on gambling allegations.
Beasley was said to be in serious talks with the Pistons about a three-year, $42MM contract before word broke about the gambling allegations. It seems that money – and potentially a little extra, if he plays out the full contract – is going to Robinson instead.
Detroit secured a two-year agreement on Monday with Hawks free agent wing Caris LeVert , who like Robinson played his college ball at the University of Michigan. The LeVert deal is expected to be completed using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Robinson, 31, brings one major talent to the table — the ability to stretch the floor. He has knocked down 39.7 percent of his three-point tries during his 423-game NBA regular-season career.
Robinson made 74 appearances this past season, half of which were starts. He averaged 11 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 24.1 minutes per game. He shot 43.7 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from distance.
Fontecchio appeared in 75 games with the Pistons, all off the bench. He averaged 5.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in 16.5 minutes per game but made a disappointing 33.5 percent of his threes after knocking down 40.1 percent in 66 games with Utah and Detroit the previous season. Fontecchio has one year and $8.3MM left on his contract.
Detroit needed to send out at least $7.5MM in matching salary to make the sign-and-trade work and Fontecchio’s contract fits nicely, cap expert Yossi Gozlan notes (Twitter links ). The Heat will also come out with a trade exception in the deal, which Gozlan estimates will be worth $6.9MM.
The Heat now have 15 players on guaranteed contracts, while the Pistons are still operating with a few open roster spots and plenty of spending flexibility below the tax threshold.