Probably two years in a row with the worst record in the league, and a coach with a five-year contract that all fans would gladly fire. The situation of the Detroit Pistons is unenviable, and the contract with the coach is not something easy to get rid of.
Monty Williams he had plans to take one year off following he left his job at Phoenix Suns. He led this team to three trips to the playoffs, one of which ended in a 2-4 loss to the NBA Finals Milwaukee Bucks. However, the new club authorities decided to change direction and rebuild the squad, also focusing on a new coach. That’s what he became Frank Vogeland among others, they said goodbye to the team Chris Paul i Deandre Ayton. Williams was left without a job.
W NBA In recent years, there has been a trend in which a team that is starting to rebuild gets a young coach who has experience and is expected to grow with the team. This is the case even in Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptorsand they will try the same thing now Washington Wizards and probably Charlotte Hornets. Of course there are exceptions to this like San Antonio Spursbut Gregg Popovich this is an outstanding unit.
After the 2022/23 season Detroit Pistons they said goodbye to the previous coach without much sentiment or regret, Dwane’a Casey. It seemed then that since the team was still undergoing reconstruction and would not be fighting for results for another year, the club would focus on someone young. They’ll get some assistant from a recognized program. Meanwhile, the general manager of the club Troy Weaver together with the club owner By Tom Gores they decided to take advantage of the opportunity and not miss the chance to hire a specialist like him Monty Williams. How did they convince him not to rest for a year? Money. They gave him a contract he mightn’t refuse – 5 years, for which he would gross $78.5 million.
And up to that point it made sense. Williams he once came to work in New Orleans Hornetswho were at the bottom of the table, but were selected in the draft Anthony’ego Davisa and together they reached the play-offs. Then the scenario sort of repeated itself in Phoenix with a team built around Become Booker. Here the plan was the same, and he is to be the central character Cade Cunningham. But no one expected such perturbations.
For the second year in a row Pistons they will most likely finish with the worst record in the league. As of today, they have 13 wins and 65 losses, two wins less than the second worst team – Washington Wizards. In the meantime, they recorded a shameful streak of 28 consecutive losing matches. Of course, this was influenced by injuries and the personnel situation Troya Weaverabut many movements performed by Williams it was also questionable.
The best example of this is Ausar Thompson, a rookie selected with the fifth pick in last year’s draft. He looked like an unpolished gem, was the leader among rookies in rebounding, and jumped out of the screen to show the scale of his talent and athleticism. What he did Williams? He benched him following 18 games of the season and then changed his decisions from time to time. It was similar with other players.
Theoretically, this can be explained by the search for the optimal lineup, but many times players who played a good match received significantly fewer minutes in the next match. All this was untenable and caused frustration at every level. From the club owner, through management, players, and ending with the fans. In this situation Tom Gores he has some really tough decisions to make.
Not only is the situation with the coach difficult, as he informs Jake Fischer from Yahoo Sports, the coach is not even thinking regarding the option of buying out his contract and giving up some of the money, a new contract will come into force next season Weavera. And the general manager showed during the trade deadline that he was lost. He made many exchanges, many times being the one who was worse on paper than the contractor. And the vast majority of NBA experts have made it clear that Pistons they were one of the biggest losers at the close of the transfer window.
Seems like someone needs to be fired. Either a coach who is in the first year of a five-year contract, or a general manager whose new contract is regarding to enter into force. I don’t envy the decision you made Tom Gores must take. It seems reasonable to part with at least one of them. But it will be expensive. But is it worth keeping both of them if they neither get along nor bring the expected results? Something in Pistons in the summer it has to change.
Want to know where the Pistons are currently? You can always find the current NBA table here.