Luigi

Datome

He has the skills to do that on offense with his range. Battier led the NBA for 3-pointers in the corner and his defense is helpful on the perimeter. As for Datome, he’s having a nice summer in EuroBasket and even scored 24 points on Saturday. The Italian is going to come off the bench and play behind Josh Smith at small forward, so he’s only worth a look in deep leagues. For what it’s worth, he does have upside for triples.

“Gigi is somebody who can shoot the basketball and he can finish at the rim and he does both of those things well,” said assistant GM George David. “I think he’s an underrated passer.” Datome is a polished 25-year-old who shot 40 percent from downtown while earning league MVP honors in Italy last year, but he’ll be fighting with Kyle Singler for minutes behind Josh Smith.

He lit it up from downtown in his 11 EuroBasket games, making 24 triples on 42.9 percent from beyond the arc. The Pistons don’t really have many long-distance shooters, so there’s an opportunity for him. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is the only other player that could be their trigger man, but there was buzz of him being the fifth option at the guard spots. The Pistons have a lot of questions in their rotation and we’ll be keeping a close eye on them.

In order to balance their attack, it’s plausible that when Andre Drummond hits the bench, Monroe will shift to center, Josh Smith to power forward, and Datome would spread the floor at small forward. The Italian is a guy who can really light it up from 3-point range as he showed in EuroBasket. Additionally, last year he shot 40 percent from beyond the arc while bringing home the MVP trophy from his Italian league. We’ll keep an eye on how the rotations are developing in October.

He was already dealing with a foot injury and has been limited to this point. Datome battled through minor injuries at EuroBasket over the summer, so that might be catching up to him. He could be the first forward off the bench and is on the radar in deep leagues.

Just as he was getting over a foot issue, it would appear the Italian is going to miss time with this injury. It’s too bad because Datome had a chance to be in the rotation and being limited in camp could hurt his chances.

He’s been Italy’s leading scorer at 14.4 points per game and also leads them in rebounds in EuroBasket. Datome’s reputation of being a shooter has been supported this summer, making 49.2 percent of his shots and knocking down 2.0 triples per game in seven EuroBasket games. He has a very good shot to make the rotation in Detroit and could be worth watching in deep leagues.

He had a minor foot issue entering the game and was questionable to play, but he made two of the biggest plays of the contest in the 86-81 overtime win. Datome hit a game-tying shot with 0.1 second left in regulation, then had a big block on Victor Claver’s breakaway would-be dunk. We’ll be monitoring him in training camp.

“I’ve liked what I saw of him,” Cheeks said. “He’s getting up and down the floor. He’s made shots.” The Pistons don’t have a clear picture of their rotation just yet, but Datome could be one of the first players off the bench. His ability to hit triples puts him on the radar in deep leagues for now.

He missed some time during EuroBasket with a foot sprain last back in October, and it carried over into September. Datome’s injury is not considered serious and the team likely just wants him close to 100 percent to start the year.