Which Pistons’ big men will thrive or be doomed under Monty Williams?

The Detroit Pistons were finally in the news for a positive reason after hiring coach Monty Williams.

Tom Gores opened the vault and made Williams the highest-paid coach in NBA history, hoping that the two-time Coach of the Year can turn the Pistons around the same way that he did the Suns, who he took from 19 wins to 34 in his first season and made the NBA Finals in his second year.

One of the first things Williams is going to have to figure out in Detroit is how to use his plethora of big men, as the Pistons have Isaiah Stewart, Jalen Duren, James Wiseman and Marvin Bagley III, all of whom want to get big minutes next season.

Williams had a very public falling out with Suns’ center Deandre Ayton and some talking heads even blamed Ayton for Williams being fired.

Williams’ coaching style should lend itself to a couple of the Pistons’ bigs, but it’s easy to see him butting heads with the other two for the same reason he and Ayton didn’t always get along.

Detroit Pistons: Monty Williams’ offense and defense

Williams famously runs what he calls the point-five offense, which means players need to either dribble, pass or shoot within .5 seconds of touching the ball.

This was one of the issues he had with Ayton, who wanted to be featured more in the post and often held the ball too long when he did get it there.

Williams also stresses defense, and if you can’t defend, you won’t be out there. Just ask Ayton, who sat for big stretches against Denver in the playoffs this season when he was basically a traffic cone in front of Nikola Jokic.

So, quick decisions on offense and maximum effort on defense (including the defensive boards). It’s pretty easy to see which bigs will fit right in with this.