Following the worst season in franchise history, the Detroit Pistons decided to hire a new president of basketball operations to try to right the ship.
Trajan Langdon was put in an unusual predicament with a GM and head coach under contract, despite the fact that he was supposedly under no duty to maintain either.
He opted to split ways with Troy Weaver and then focused his attention on the coaching staff, notably Monty Williams.
The hiring of Fred Vinson only fueled suspicion that Williams would stay, which was bolstered by insider Marc Stein (subscription), who stated the Pistons’ intentions about Williams:
“Yet one person with knowledge of Detroit’s thinking told The Stein Line that Friday’s ESPN report about the Pistons signing Fred Vinson away from New Orleans as an assistant coach is a clear hint that Williams will return for Year 2 of his six-year, almost $80 million contract.
The insider stated that it was the most likely outcome.
I would add that Langdon has yet to be announced in a press conference, so all of this is speculation until he is and officially announces Monty Williams’ return.
If this is the case, has Langdon made his first mistake?
Is keeping Monty Williams all about the money for the Detroit Pistons?
You can question the circumstances for Monty Williams’ poor performance last season. He inherited a terrible roster that he had no part in putting together.
He was given a young club with no seasoned leadership by a departing general manager. It was the first season, so blah blah blah.
Legitimate excuses exist, as are the following facts:
-The Pistons have won 14 games, the fewest in team history and three fewer than Dwane Casey did sans Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson. The Pistons were basically tanking for Wembanyama, but they still won more games than Williams, who was wanting to win.
-Williams admittedly messed up with Jaden Ivey by benching him in favor of a player who is no longer in the NBA.
-The Pistons had to cut the player (the former #7 selection in the draft) only to remove him out of Williams’ rotation.
-The Pistons had to hold a team meeting to address the Ivey problem, thereby pushing Monty to employ one of his finest players in a larger role.
-Detroit set an NBA record by losing 28 games in a row in one season.
-Williams had obvious conflicts with his finest player.
-For much of the season, Williams appeared to be out of it.
-Despite the fact that all bench lineups were clearly ineffective, Williams persisted to deploy them. He had one of the league’s poorest rosters and played as if he had the 1989 Pistons with a completely new starting lineup on the bench rather than a group of guys who aren’t going to last long in the NBA.
Outside of his track record and the environment, there is no tangible reason to bring Monty Williams back.
If Williams returns, I’m sure he won’t be granted as much leeway as he had last season, but if that’s the case, why not fire him and bring in your own guy now?
James Borrego of the Pelicans is presently a top option and might be persuaded to Detroit if Langdon decides to go a different route.
He may not have a choice because Tom Gores does not want to eat so much money and may have urged Langdon to keep Monty for at least one more season to lessen the impact.
But if it doesn’t work out, Langdon will be held accountable, so if Monty is fired two months into next season, we’ll remember this as his first bad decision.
Of course, he could fire Monty. There’s also a chance Williams recovers, the Pistons improve, and Langdon looks like a genius. If Williams does stay, both he and Langdon will face early scrutiny.
