The Detroit Pistons appear to be joining the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers in the coach market.
Head coach Monty Williams has been dismissed by the franchise after just one season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Williams, 52, was heavily pursued by Detroit prior to the 2023-24 season after the two-time NBA Coach of the Year planned to sit out the year to support his wife’s cancer diagnosis.
Instead, he accepted a lucrative six-year contract, of which five years and $65 million remain, to take the helm of a rebuilding squad.
“Decisions like these are difficult to make, and I want to thank Monty for his hard work and dedication,” Pistons owner Tom Gores said in a statement. “Coaching has many dynamic challenges that emerge during a season and Monty always handled those with grace. However, after reviewing our performance carefully and assessing our current position as an organization, we will chart a new course moving forward.”
The firing continues a wildly strange run for Williams. In 2021, as coach of the Suns, he went to the NBA Finals, where Phoenix led 2-0 before falling in six games to Milwaukee. In 2022, he was the NBA’s coach of the year in runaway voting. In 2023, the Suns fired him and now, in 2024, the Pistons have done the same.
The record for total value of a coaching contract has since been eclipsed; Miami gave Erik Spoelstra an eight-year extension worth $120 million earlier this year.
Despite his pedigree, the Pistons hardly took a step forward under Williams. Detroit finished with a league-worst 14-68 record while setting the single-season record for consecutive losses at 28.
The Pistons’ move comes a week before the start of the NBA draft, with Detroit set to make the fifth overall pick on June 26 — someone that should be able to further enhance a young core led by Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren.
It also comes just over two weeks after the Pistons front office — under new president Trajan Langdon — let go of former general manager Troy Weaver.
“We are unwavering in our commitment to bring a championship-caliber team to Detroit,” Gores said. “We will be diligent and swift in our search for a new head coach to lead our exciting young core of players and will continue our vision towards building a best-in-class front office that will help us achieve sustainable success.”
It’s a new era in Detroit…again.
— With files for Associated Press