Former Suns Coach Monty Williams a 'Home Run' Hire for Pistons
The Phoenix Suns no longer employ the talents of Monty Williams - and though the Suns themselves are still on their search to replace him - Williams has already landed a new gig.
To be clear, Williams inking a deal to make him the highest-paid coach in the NBA wasn't exactly in the cards. Williams was fired 48 hours after the Suns flamed out of the second round of the NBA postseason and was heavily considering taking a year off.
However, the Detroit Pistons (and their money) came calling - and now Williams is on the verge of heading to the Motor City.
The Athletic broke down how the deal came about:
"Williams, the 2022 NBA Coach of the Year, was fired by the Phoenix Suns after a Western Conference semifinals exit. Detroit, according to league sources, immediately checked in with Williams and his representatives to gauge his interest in its coaching vacancy and, to put it simply, see if he’d like to meet," said The Athletic.
"Williams, though, had informed the Pistons, Bucks and other NBA teams interested in hiring him that he was not ready to commit to coaching next season and was leaning toward taking a year off, per league sources. The Pistons didn’t make a formal offer to Williams at that time, multiple sources said.
"Weaver and the rest of the Pistons’ front office decided to not take “no” for an answer and put numbers in front of Williams, as well as a plan to court and entice him to come help an up-and-coming squad get to the next level, as he had done with the Suns, rather than sit out a season.
"The next day after that collective meeting, Gores sent a private plane to Phoenix to pick up Williams, per league sources. The 51-year-old coach was in Gores’ California living room that night. A week later, Williams has agreed to a lucrative deal making him the highest-paid coach in the NBA."
Williams' deal is reportedly a six-year contract worth $78.5 million, but there are incentives that could add extra years and could escalate to a total of $100 million.
When it comes to grading the hire, it made sense:
"Williams is, without question, a home-run hire for Detroit," said The Athletic.
"A strong case could be made that he was the best available candidate to hit the open market. He took over a Suns team in 2019 that had just 19 wins the year before and turned them into a 34-win team in his first season before Phoenix became one of the NBA’s premier squads.
"The Pistons are in a similar position to that Suns team of 2019, coming off a 17-win season but with promising franchise building blocks in the likes of Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, as well as the No. 5 pick in this year’s draft.
"Detroit saw Williams as the perfect fit for its team at this point in time."
