By Jack Walker
On June 19 it was announced that after one season as head coach of the Detroit Pistons, Monty Williams would no longer be with the franchise. This comes after a disappointing 14-win season, which included a historic 28-game losing streak, making it statistically the worst season in Pistons history. What went from a potentially promising hire, turned into a disaster for the organization and everyone involved. Below is a recap of the past year for the Pistons and the many things that went wrong.
After a disappointing 17-win season in the 2022-23 campaign, Detroit Pistons Head Coach Dwane Casey decided to call it a career on the sidelines, stepping down as the lead man. This left the Pistons with a big decision to make on who they wanted to lead the team. After nearly two months of speculation and the fear that former University of Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie, who had been out of coaching for five years at that point, could seriously be the Piston’s new coach, a massive “Woj Bomb” dropped on May 31 at around 10:30 p.m. The Pistons were in agreement with Williams on what was at the time the largest coaching contract in the NBA.
To go from potentially hiring Ollie to hiring Williams was the great news Pistons fans had been waiting for since Chauncey Billups was still wearing the Detroit Jersey. Williams was no rookie either, we’re talking about a guy who at the time was a year removed from coaching a 64-win Phoenix team and winning Coach of the Year.
But then after the dust had settled, some red flags started to appear. It was revealed that Williams was not interested in coaching for a while, and only took the Pistons job because of the money that was on the table. Williams alluded to this in his introductory press conference after being asked why he took on the job, saying, “Troy (Weaver), the players, and the money.”
I do respect Williams for being honest in that regard because I don’t think many coaches in his situation would’ve said that. I mean, how can you blame him, when a historic offer comes in, how can one say no?
But, I also feel like it’s really not a great sign when your coach is saying one of the main reasons he took the job was because of the money. It was quite clear from the get-go that Williams was not invested in this rebuild full-time. The scary part was that it was clear before the season began.
To no one’s surprise, the Pistons were terrible last season, and not just terrible, they were historically terrible, because they set the NBA’s single-season losing streak record with a historic 28 losses in a row, spanning from Oct. 30 to Dec. 30. That’s right, two whole months of losing basketball. The Pistons were the only team willing to participate in “No Win November” this past season.
There are plenty of terrible losses in the streak to choose from for “worst loss,” but my pick would be on Dec. 21, when the Utah Jazz came to town. No Lauri Markkanen, no Jordan Clarkson, no Keynote George, the Jazz are also a rebuilding team, surely the Pistons could win this one, right? No, and not only did they lose, but former Piston Kelly Olynyk scored 27 points, his season-high.
The Game against Utah put the country on notice just how ugly the situation in Detroit was becoming, as the Pistons and Jazz broadcasts could clearly pickup “Sell the Team” chants reigning down at Little Caesars Arena, as fans were shown on TV with the infamous paper bags over their heads, an embarrassing night for the team.
A two-point victory over the Toronto Raptors on Dec. 30 ended what felt like a never-ending losing streak for the Pistons, a run that truly will never be forgotten.
Although it never went to 28 games in a row, losing became the theme of the Pistons season, as the team finished with a lousy 14-68 record, the worst in franchise history. Two seasons, 31 total wins, not exactly what the front office and ownership had in mind.
Albeit, the roster Williams was handed was not good by any means, but 14 wins bad? Not even the most pessimistic Pistons fan would’ve bought that at the beginning of the season.
As mentioned, the Pistons won 17 games the year prior. The difference however was that the ‘22-’23 team had only 12 games of former number one overall pick Cade Cunningham, the ‘23-’24 team had 62 games of him. This past season’s team also had Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey in their second years, as opposed to their rookie years. The team also added a top-five pick in Ausar Thompson. So how could they have gotten worse? William”s coaching played a big role in the regression.
I’m no Phil Jackson or Gregg Popovich by any means, but it didn’t take a coaching expert to see what Williams was doing wrong.
By far the worst move Williams kept making was playing Killian Hayes over Ivey. There are a million things to say about Hayes’s NBA career, and not many of them would be positive. Hayes was in his fourth season at this point and the consensus around the league was that he was the worst player getting real minutes in the NBA. So why did Williams keep playing him over Ivey who was coming off of a strong rookie season? Nobody has a clue to this day. I’ll leave it at this, it got so out of hand that Hayes was waived by the Pistons at the trade deadline, and was not picked up by another team.
Williams’ use of the bench lost the Pistons a handful of games this past season as well. It was no secret the Pistons’ depth was bad. When guys like Isaiah Livers, James Wiseman and Hayes were getting minutes, it was made clear. When a team is bad, typically less players should play and the rotation should be tightened to eight or nine guys. Well, not in Williams’ coaching philosophy, because some nights the rotation would be as big as eleven players. All while continuously using all-bench lineups instead of staggering the starters, leading to countless large runs given up by the Pistons.
Players were seen visibly upset on the sidelines multiple times throughout the year, from afar it was clear that Williams did not have it in him.
However, there was some potentially big news at the end of the season for Detroit, as it was announced the team was undergoing a search for a new ‘President of Basketball Operations’ a title that had not been held in Detroit since Stan Van Gundy in 2018.
Although not official at the time, it seemed as if this was the beginning of the end for General Manager Troy Weaver, who in his four years as GM, never eclipsed more than 25 wins in a season.
After nearly two months of searching for a new president, it was announced on May 23, that New Orleans Pelicans General Manager and former Duke basketball player Trajan Langdon, would take over as President of Basketball Operations for the Pistons. A new era in Motown for a franchise that hasn’t seen any success since the 2000’s.
Roughly a week later on May 31, it was announced that Weaver was out in Detroit, parting ways after four seasons. It felt as though Williams was next on the chopping block, but after a couple of weeks, it was silent, with no news regarding the head coach situation.
Which brings us back to June 19, when it was announced that Williams would no longer be the coach of the Detroit Pistons. One season after signing the largest coaching contract in the NBA, he was out. Williams will still be paid $65 million over the next five years, with the money coming right out of owner Tom Gores’ pocket.
The Gores era of the Pistons has not been good by any stretch, no matter how you put it, it’s been a failure. Since he purchased the team in 2011, the team has won 41 games (.500) twice, and that resulted in 0 playoff wins. However, I’ll give him credit for the firing of Williams, he made the mistake of giving him a boatload of money and he owned up to it. Most owners would not eat $65 million like that, but he did see it was for the best.
With Weaver and Williams out, and Langdon and a new head coach in, it symbolizes a new era of Detroit basketball. No doubt there’s plenty of work to be done, a 14-win team does not become a playoff contender with the snap of a finger.
But, the Pistons have another top-five pick in Ron Holland II in their possession and around $50 million of cap space to work with. The roster will more than likely see plenty of changes to come, which is not a bad thing because running it back with the same 17-win team is how the Pistons ended up winning 14.
It won’t be easy for Langdon and the new coaching hire, but it’s a franchise that in this current century saw six straight Eastern Conference Finals appearances. Though it may seem impossible, it can be done.
