Pistons fire Monty Williams 1 year after signing 6-year, $78.5 million contract

Monty Williams is no longer head coach of the Detroit Pistons, the team announced Wednesday. Pistons owner Tom Gores called for Williams to move on in the past 24 hours, according to team sources.

Williams signed one of the largest contracts in NBA history last June and has approximately $60 million remaining on that six-year deal. The decision to part ways with him comes after a season in which Detroit finished with a franchise-worst 14 wins and endured a historic 28-game losing streak that began four games into the season and only ended until December 30.

“Decisions like these are difficult to make, and I want to thank Monty for his hard work and dedication,” Gores said in a statement Wednesday. “Coaching has many dynamic challenges that arise over the course of a season and Monty has always met them with grace. However, after carefully reviewing our performance and assessing our current position as an organization, we will chart a new course for the future.

The Pistons' dreadful 2023-24 campaign was another fall into the abyss during a rebuild that began in 2020 and made no progress in the win-loss column. Gores told reporters in December that changes were coming, and although the organization made several acquisitions before the trade deadline, the recent hiring of Trajan Langdon as Detroit's new president of basketball operations was the type of change many fans were expecting earlier.

While conducting interviews during the hiring process for the position Langdon landed, Gores told candidates they would have free rein to fire and hire whoever they wanted, with money not being an issue, according to the team and league sources.

To keep his job in the upcoming season, Williams had to be evaluated and, essentially, go through the interview process with Langdon. Williams was expected to lay out a detailed plan for how he could improve the Pistons on the court, according to team and league sources.

Not only should Williams have convinced the new president of his path, but these two should have convinced Gores. Additionally, those involved in the decision to keep or leave Williams wanted to know for sure if he was truly committed to taking a team into a rebuilding situation. Team sources said the organization is looking for complete top-to-bottom synergy this offseason.

Williams was hired in hopes of helping a young Detroit team take steps in the right direction after winning just 17 games in 2022-23. After being disappointed by the candidates presented to him during the hiring process in April and May 2023, Gores pulled out the red carpet and managed to land Williams – who the Phoenix Suns had recently fired and whose wife was in the midst of his battle with cancer – with an offer he couldn't refuse.

Gores' offer was a contract worth up to $100 million with incentives and added health benefits and access to a private plane for Williams, who initially turned down the job, and for his family for that his wife was in her midst. battle. Here's what Williams had to say about why he took the job during his introductory press conference:

“The quick answer is (Weaver), the players and the money. It's something people don't talk about. They say it wasn't the money. I'm laughing about it. I think it's disrespectful. …When someone is so generous to pay me that kind of money, firstly, it should be applauded and, secondly, it should be talked about. …I love the building process. I like to see players improve. I love seeing a first-time guy understand what it takes to navigate critical situations. These jobs are privileges, and there are only 30 of them, and I look at it that way.

The weekend before Christmas, with the Pistons in the midst of their historic losing streak and just two wins this season, Gores spoke with select reporters, including Athleticismvia video call and admitted he was more engaged on a day-to-day basis than in the past due to the funk his team was in and no obvious answer in sight.

“I'm at Monty and I'm talking about rotations. I don’t normally do that,” Gores said. “Monty is so good and knows what he's doing, he's even willing to talk about it. We have to change something. I can't tell you what it is exactly. We're diving pretty hard. We're probably two weeks ahead of you guys. Our disappointment catches up with us too. We expected much more.

“We have to be real and realize that there are things that didn't work with the composition of the team. Sure, we should have won a few more games, but how many of those games? Three or four? Who knows what that number is. We are not configured the way we should be. …I expect change. I don't think we should say here that there is no change. Change is coming. I'm just saying as far as Monty, Troy, all that stuff…they'll be in place, but I have them everywhere. They will tell you that too. There are a lot of responsibilities to take on. There could be staff additions and everything else. What is certain is that change is coming. We are not right, yet. We need to add and remove. We are already there. We will make changes. We will make them. We don't yet know exactly what they will be.

Even though Williams didn't have the best team to work with (and early season injuries didn't make things better), he and everyone involved played a role in Detroit's epic defeat. He started 2020 No. 7 pick Killian Hayes for most of the team's first 30 games. The Pistons were open to trading or moving on from Hayes last summer, according to team and league sources. By any measure, Hayes was one of the least efficient scorers not only currently in the NBA, but in the history of the game. However, Hayes' 6-foot-5 frame, ball movement, and defense passable at times intrigued Williams from afar, and the coach wanted a chance to try to revive the lottery pick's career. Hayes has been out of the NBA since Detroit waived him on February 8.

Additionally, Williams' reliance on Hayes came at the expense of Jaden Ivey, the No. 5 pick in 2023 who had earned All-Rookie honors in his rookie year. After starting his entire inaugural season, Ivey began his sophomore season coming off the bench.

Ivey wasn't perfect last season. He needed to improve defensively and as a decision maker. Some habits needed to be broken, but Williams prioritized the in-game development of Hayes, with whom the organization was willing to part ways with its top five from the year before. Ivey coming off the bench wasn't the problem. With Ivey coming off the bench and playing fewer minutes than Hayes over the first two months of the season, that's where the questions started to swirl.

Detroit had a midseason organizational meeting, and one thing that was pointed out to Williams by the staff was that Ivey as the primary ball handler hadn't had much going on.

“I have to eat it,” Williams said. “I wish I had done it sooner.”

Williams committed to playing bench-only lineups for much of the season, despite a roster that probably shouldn't have exceeded seven or eight players. There was very little disconnect between franchise cornerstones Cade Cunningham and Ivey for much of the season when the latter finally became a starter in December. According to NBA.com, from October 25 to December 25, Detroit's bench played the 13th most minutes in the NBA despite having the worst plus-minus in the league. Additionally, the Pistons bench had the worst net rating in the league among all benches. Still, Williams continued to feature lineups rich in reserve.

No one is responsible for Detroit's total failure of a season. A loss of this magnitude ripples through the entire organization. However, the owner isn't going to fire himself and the Pistons couldn't afford to bring back all the key decision makers from the worst season in franchise history.

Langdon, through Gores, was given the freedom to run the organization as he saw fit, and he decided to clean house.

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(Photo: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)