You could claim the case that Monty Williams got kind of a raw deal in the Phoenix Suns. I consider his firing as more ownership related than a professional matter. When a new guy comes and takes over the ownership, they usually wanna have their own guys on board and expect to see instant results, which is why we saw them go all in on Kevin Durant right after the Suns were blown out by a billion for the second straight year at home and that Wojmarowwski’s tweet about Monty didn’t surprise me at all.
As it turned out, one owner’s trash happens to be another owner’s gold mine…
I would lie to you if I tell you that I expected to see a $100M coach deal because let’s face it, even in NBA terms, it is crazy on the surface, and Monty Williams’ $13.08M AAV salary would be the 104th highest salary in the NBA among players so obviously this isn’t a minor chunk of change, and after striking this deal, that automatically puts Monty Williams among the top 10 highest-paid US coaches of any sport.
While the price tag may seem mind-blowing, we’re looking at about a billionaire’s money so what difference does $13M make to that guy? What matters for the Pistons is establishing a culture and developing their young talent. While Monty Williams may have his issues as a coach, the one thing he thrives at is those two things, especially establishing a culture. The entire run by the Suns these last few years you could argue have been a direct result of establishing a new culture. Just think back to the Bubble speech
Just by looking at the Pistons’ roster, you can tell that there is quite a lot of talent to work with.
Many believed the past season could be a turning point where they finally start taking the leap up a notch, but when Cade Cunningham went down for the year just 12 games in, that was about it. It undoubtedly didn’t help that all that losing/tanking didn’t even help them in the Lottery given they finished 5th despite being one of the 3 teams with the best chance, but who knows, maybe they flip that pick for some more NBA-ready talent. Everything we’ve seen from Cade says he’s going to be really good, Jaden Ivey had a pretty damn impressive season for a rookie.
And both the guys are in their 2nd team after their rookie season
Not to mention the Pistons have tons of money to spend as they starting this summer being the 5th most projected cap space at about $40M so why wouldn’t they waste a big sheet contract to a player like Austin Reaves or even Cam Johnson or even Washington instead of spreading the money over players that are considered solid in their roles? I don’t know, isn’t winning and making it to the finals part of the reason for a person to own an NBA franchise?
Is it insane to suggest that with an inflow of talent and a good coach that the Pistons could get into Play In contention next year? I don’t think so. We are seeing a similar thing happen in Orlando, where these young teams are starting to make progress in their rebuild and are entering the mid-30s range in terms of wins. Why can’t that be an improved Pistons team?
When you put this kind of money under a 6-year deal, you can count on the fact that not only will he help you improve, and even more, players won’t dare to screw around with a coach like Monty Williams knows what he wants from his players and who 100% support from the guy on the top.