The Detroit Pistons haven't had much luck finding a free-agent 3-point shooter in North America, so they are going the international route.
According to media reports, they reached an agreement on a two-year contract with Italian star Luigi "Gigi" Datome. Datome, who turns 27 in late November, is a 6-foot-8 small forward with definite NBA range from the outside.
Last season, playing for Acea Roma in the top Italian league, he was named the league MVP after averaging 16.4 points in 33.2 minutes. While it is nearly impossible to judge how well he will be able to defend NBA players, he certainly looks to have the ability to give Detroit the shooter off the bench that they need. He's a career 40 percent shooter on 3-pointers and 87 percent on free throws, and has also been able hit the mid-range jumpers that the Pistons haven't seen consistently since Rip Hamilton.
Unfortunately for Datome, he has had little chance to prove himself at the Euroleague level, as Acea Roma hasn't qualified for the continental club championship since the 2010-11 season. That year, he struggled against the best teams in Europe, averaging only 9.3 points in 13 games. His best game was probably a 15-point outing against a Barcelona team that included Ricky Rubio, former Memphis Grizzles guard Juan Carlos Navarro and former Spartans Alan Anderson and Erazem Lorbek.
In 2008-09, his first season with Roma, Datome played with Brandon Jennings, who had decided to play in Europe instead of attending college. Datome started while Jennings came off the bench, and outscored him by 8.9 points to 5.5 points a game. After the season, Jennings joined the Bucks and averaged 15.5 points and 5.7 assists as a rookie.
The Pistons now have 16 players under contract, one more than the 15-player maximum, so they will have to make a roster move once contracts can officially be signed later this week. Kim English, who has a non-guaranteed contract of $788,872, would be the most likely candidate to be cut.
