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Welcome to Day 5 of the Miami Herald\u2019s free agency live blog.<\/p>\n
The Heat has been in a holding pattern of sorts the past two days, waiting to see if an appealing free agent takes a minimum deal or an appealing player under contract shakes free.<\/p>\n
Please keep checking back. We\u2019ll add updates on the top.<\/p>\n
A word from Simone Fontecchio<\/p>\n
In a Zoom session with reporters on Friday morning, Heat forward Simone Fontecchio said he\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Fontecchio, who became the second person in the organization to speak extensively about the not-yet-announced Antetokounmpo trade, said the two-time MVP \u201ccan make life for other people around me so much easier. I know people who play with him in previous teams. As a shooter that\u2019s something you look for. [There will be] more room [for shooters]: It\u2019s going to make my life so much easier. I hope to make his life easier too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Per league rules, the trade sending Antetokounmpo to Miami cannot be announced before July 6. Forward Nikola Jovic is the only other person in the organization who has commented publicly about the trade.<\/p>\n
Of the Antetokounmpo\/Bam Adebayo frontcourt partnership, Fontecchio said: \u201cThey might be the best frontcourt in the NBA defensively. Offensively with the force they play with, it\u2019s going to super interesting. We are going to find a way and [Erik Spoelstra] will find a way to make it work as he did last year with a completely new offense. We\u2019ll definitely find a way.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the flip side, he said he\u2019s going to \u201cmiss\u201d the four players traded – Tyler Herro, Kasparas Jakucionis, Kel\u2019el Ware and Jaime Jaquez Jr.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe traded four players we shared moments with,\u201d Fontecchio said.<\/p>\n
Speaking of his own decision to re-sign, he said: \u201cI always wanted to stay in Miami. Last week, they said, \u2018Listen we don\u2019t have much room to operate.\u2019 [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\u2019s going to mean for the franchise and city.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he spoke to Spoelstra before re-signing at the minimum.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to talk to him directly,\u201d Fontecchio said. \u201cWe had a great conversation. I wanted to ask him a couple things. It wasn\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he \u201cdidn\u2019t want to ask\u201d about whether he would be a rotation player: \u201cI\u2019m not the type of guy that asks for reassurance. It\u2019s dumb for me to ask for a guarantee. I know my role last year [as an occasional rotation player].<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always ready, [a guy who] doesn\u2019t complain, always positive in the locker room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fontecchio, 30, averaged 8.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 41.2% from the field and 37.5% on 4.7 three-point attempts in 70 appearances (nine starts) during his first season with the Heat last regular season. He made five or more threes in six games last season.<\/p>\n
Undrafted out of Italy in 2017, Fontecchio has shot 36.7% on 4.1 three-point attempts during his four-year NBA career. He played for the Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz before initially joining the Heat in free agency last summer.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s vulnerable to shooting droughts, but when his shot is falling, he\u2019s an effective floor spacer on a team that will need shooting around Antetokounmpo and Adebayo.<\/p>\n
This story was originally published July 3, 2026 at 11:18 AM.<\/p>\n