Former Houston Rockets coach Stephen Silas has agreed to join the Detroit Pistons as the top assistant coach of the staff which will be led by new hiree Monty Williams, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Silas was previously the top assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks, the Golden State Warriors and the Charlotte Hornets among other franchises. He initially began his career in coaching under his father, ex-NBA player and head coach Paul Silas.
Silas was most recently the head coach of the Houston Rockets, serving in the position from 2020. The 49-year-old parted ways with the Texas franchise earlier this year, as the side finished with the second-worst record in 2022-23 in the Western Conference to go with the league-worst record in his first two seasons.
However, it must be noted that Silas acquired a team that was in transition and had to deal with a slew of injuries and trades. He will now reportedly be part of a Detroit team that is going through much of the same, as they finished the 2022-23 season with a league-worst record of 17-65.
The Pistons named Williams as their head coach on Friday, showing intent to improve upon their fortunes after Dwane Casey stepped down with one year left on his contract to take a role in the front office. The six-year contract is reportedly the largest coaching deal in NBA history at $78.5 million.
The 51-year-old Williams was previously the coach of the Phoenix Suns, but was fired on May 13, two years after reaching the NBA Finals and a year after he won the league’s coach of the year honours. He will be tasked with leading a young and inexperienced squad Pistons squad that includes Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey.
Despite their league-worst record, the Pistons did not have good fortune in the draft lottery, landing the No. 5 pick overall for the second straight year.
They have seemingly missed out on the opportunity to draft seven-foot-three French pro Victor Wembanyama, 19, who is widely expected to be the first overall pick of the San Antonio Spurs.
The NBA world has seen a bunch of coaching changes in the past few weeks already, with former Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse linking up with the Philadelphia 76ers and Frank Vogel reportedly being hired to replace Williams in Phoenix.
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.