NBA News NBA News, Match Reports and Updates
The Detroit Pistons had to persuade Monty Williams to take their money and their job a year ago, and then Williams had to convince the Pistons he wanted to stay after a disastrous first season.
Team owner Tom Gores made the call himself to fire Williams, league sources told Yahoo Sports, and now newly minted but not yet introduced Pistons president Trajan Langdon will set out to hire a head coach following a coaching cycle that has already gone through twists and turns.
The Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers still have vacancies, and the Pistons are the third — with this next hire being the sixth head coach under Gores since he bought the team at the end of the 2010-11 season.
More head coaches than playoff wins — because the once-proud franchise hasn’t won a playoff game since 2008. Other franchises have gone through levels of contention and rebuilds and been back to relevance while the Pistons haven’t found traction.
General manager Troy Weaver and now Williams are out, and the Pistons are changing course yet again. But it would be very easy, yet shortsighted, to blame the Pistons’ woes on the exiting figures.
This organization needs a full cleansing, an honest examination of who’s involved in basketball decisions and if the No. 1 agenda behind those decisions is winning.
Weaver’s strength was in drafting and identifying talent, but he missed badly when selecting Killian Hayes at No. 7 in 2020. Hayes was outright released in February after the franchise gave him multiple chances to prove himself, including from Williams, who played him over Jaden Ivey — a truly puzzling decision.
Monty Williams went 14-68 with the Pistons. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)
The Pistons have selected talented players after the Hayes disaster, like Ivey, Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart and most recently Ausar Thompson. All are athletic, all are very young and naturally it hasn’t translated to winning. Perhaps they are good pieces who don’t quite fit.
Team building and the team in the building upstairs have been the biggest impediments to success before Weaver got there and during his time in Detroit. The Pistons tried to…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/monty-williams-firing-will-hopefully-signify-a-legitimate-step-forward-for-the-pistons-190153380.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-06-19 19:01:53
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
