Pistons Reportedly Making Massive Push for Former Suns HC Monty Williams
It's been quite the last six months for former Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams.
The Suns needed a change of pace on the roster back at the trade deadline and ultimately sold the farm for the talents of Kevin Durant. Phoenix would go on to finish as the No. 4 seed in the West and ultimately again fell in the second round of the postseason, losing in embarrassing fashion at home for a second straight year.
New owner Mat Ishbia saw enough to know a new head coach was needed, and thus Williams was relieved of his duties no less than 48 hours after dropping Game 6 to the Denver Nuggets.
The Suns are still searching for their next head coach - and so too are the Detroit Pistons, who showed some lofty interest in Williams before the 2022 NBA Coach of the Year reportedly told teams he wanted to take a year off.
However, The Athletic's Shams Charania is reporting the Pistons are still putting on a full-court press to land Williams.
"The Detroit Pistons are heavily pursuing Monty Williams, the NBA’s winningest coach since 2021, to be their next man in charge, league sources tell The Athletic.
"The Pistons are preparing to offer Williams in the range of $10 million per year, league sources said, which would put him among the league’s highest-paid coaches. Detroit has been hopeful over the past several weeks that Williams would consider accepting the job, sources added."
Williams is still due around $21 million over the next three seasons from Phoenix after being let go. He inked a contract extension with the Suns last offseason. He led the Suns to an appearance in the 2021 NBA Finals before setting a Suns franchise record with 64 regular season wins.
Williams could arrive to Detroit to handle a very young and promising group of players that features Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren.
