Should Monty Williams be on the hot seat?

Highlights

• Monty Williams’ relationship with the Detroit Pistons started shaky.
• The season under him has so far been historically bad for the Pistons.
• Williams’ coaching decisions have contributed heavily to Detroit’s colossal collapse.

The Detroit Pistons have many issues to address at the conclusion of this embarrassing season. The finger can be pointed to the poor performances of a variety of players, but a glaring issue has been the coaching by Monty Williams.

When Williams signed, he was given the highest-paid contract in NBA history, a record that was recently broken by Steve Kerr with his extension with the Golden State Warriors. Considering the expectations compared to the performance of this team, it raises the question, should Monty Williams be on the hot seat?

Williams’ and Pistons’ relationship started rocky

Monty and the Pistons weren’t initially on the same page

Williams is revered as one of the most beloved figures within NBA circles. However, following consecutive seasons of disappointments with the Phoenix Suns, he was relieved of his coaching duties.

Detroit was off the heels of their previous head coach of five seasons, Dwane Casey, who transitioned to a front-office role. In hopes of acquiring Williams, it was reported that the Pistons offered him a lucrative contract, which he declined.

“It appears that plan, which we revealed in the enclosed story from inside the Drawing Room at the draft lottery in Chicago last week, was unsuccessful. Williams has three years remaining on his Suns deal valued in excess of $20 million.”- NBA Insider Marc Stein on the Pistons’ attempt at hiring Monty Williams

Tom Gores, the owner of the Pistons, was convinced that the team was very similar to the Suns roster when Williams took the helm, eventually leading them to an NBA Finals berth. Detroit would then offer the infamous six-year, $78.5 million contract that could reach eight years, $100 million with incentives, that Williams was unable to turn down.

There’s no question that Williams is a great coach in the NBA. During his tenure with the Suns, he held a record of 194-115 and led them to three-straight playoff appearances, breaking a 10-year drought.

The other options that the Pistons were mulling were Kevin Ollie, who is now the interim head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, and Charles Lee, who is an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks. Considering the other candidates, it’s understandable why the Pistons were so determined to acquire Williams since he’s proved that he can lead a team to high-level success in the NBA.

It was clear that Williams had no true willingness to become the coach of the Pistons, however, he was swayed by money instead. When examining how this season has transpired for the Pistons, questions regarding Williams’ heart toward coaching are more than warranted.

The Pistons made history in the worst way under Williams

This season hasn’t been what Detroit envisioned under their new coach

It wasn’t expected for the Pistons to be among the top-eight teams in the Eastern Conference contending for a playoff spot. However, Detroit was coming off a 17-65 season in which their franchise cornerstone, Cade Cunningham, only played 12 games.

Jaden Ivey, who had a great individual rookie season, was expected to thrive alongside Cunningham, relieving each other of ball-handling responsibilities. Although the addition of Williams was expected to help build the culture among this young team, they took a significant step backward.

Detroit made history by losing an NBA-record 28 games in a row and Williams’ coaching decisions played a huge role in the team’s colossal collapse. Despite clearly being out-skilled by the majority of the competition, Monty Williams elected to play a five-man unit of bench players.

Among the puzzling decisions that Williams made, a major one included assigning Ivey to the bench, in favor of Killian Hayes. In hindsight, the decision has become even more confusing, considering Ivey has blossomed since being given more minutes as a starter, and Hayes was eventually released by the team in early February.

During their 28-game losing streak, the Pistons were 29th in three-point percentage, shooting just 33.4 percent. Detroit had Joe Harris, a career 43.6 percent three-point shooter, and wasn’t using him at all. Williams assured that the experimental lineups would stop going forward.

“I’m not going to be throwing combinations on the floor to just be looking at certain combinations. We’re done with that, in my opinion. We’re trying to develop guys, for sure, but we’re going to try and win every game we can so that we can create what we feel (will give us momentum) going into the summer.”-Williams before the Pistons game against the Pacers on Feb, 22.

Despite saying this before the Pistons’ matchup against the Indiana Pacers, Williams immediately contradicted himself. Detroit would go 10 players deep before the end of the first quarter.

It’s hard to believe that Williams is trying to develop players when great talent, such as Marcus Sasser, is playing 16.3 minutes per game and players such as Kevin Knox (18.1 minutes) during his tenure with the Pistons were playing more minutes.

Mike Muscala, who was acquired before the trade deadline, has been exceptional for the Pistons in his short time. However, his minutes have fluctuated inexplicably despite owning a +17-point differential and expected wins of +38. According to what Williams said, if winning is a priority for this team to close out the season, Muscala should be playing more minutes considering his direct impact on the success of this team.

The Pistons haven’t made the postseason since 2019 and are in their fifth year of a rebuild with the future looking more bleak than bright. Is there a reality that Detroit learns from this season and makes a much-needed stride? Certainly. However, Monty Williams’ security as head coach for this team won’t be as secure as his contract portrays it to be. If the Pistons repeat the same struggles next season, there very well may be a new voice inside Detroit’s locker room.