The Detroit Pistons made one of the splashiest moves of the offseason so far when they hired Monty Williams to be their next head coach, making him the highest paid coach in the league.
Williams didn’t waste much time starting his staff, as he made former Rockets’ head coach Stephen Silas his lead assistant.
Silas will be in charge, in part, of fixing an offense that has ranked at or near the bottom of the league over the last several seasons.
Silas had the same task in Houston but couldn’t make it work as head coach. He is known for his offensive acumen, but was given a tanking roster after the Rockets pivoted and traded away Russell Westbrook and James Harden early in his tenure.
The Rockets had one of the youngest rosters in the league under Silas, and he dealt with a ton of drama, from unhappy players in Eric Gordon, Kevin Porter Jr. and Christian Wood, to young players disregarding his play calls.
It was a hot mess in Houston and the offensive wiz kid led his team to a bottom four offensive ranking the last three seasons, right there with the Detroit Pistons.
So how are things going to be different in the Motor City?
Detroit Pistons: Stephen Silas has a strong history as an assistant
The biggest difference in Detroit is that Stephen Silas will not be the head coach, so he won’t have to deal with mutinies, egos or trying to manage a poorly constructed roster. Silas will focus on the offense, and he has a track record in that area as an assistant.
In his final year as offensive coordinator of the Dallas Mavericks, Silas had the top-rated offense of all time (at the time, it has since been eclipsed) with an offensive efficiency rating that was markedly better than anyone else in the league.
And the offense in Dallas will be much closer to the one we will see in Detroit, as Silas will once again have a big, cerebral point guard to work with in Cade Cunningham after having a ton of success with Luka Doncic.
Dallas ran a lot of guard/guard pick-and-rolls, something that could work well for the Pistons given their talented and diverse young backcourt. And even though Dallas took a ton of 3-point shots under Silas, they used much more of the court than his Rockets did, taking advantage of the mid-range shot.
This is another area that should benefit Cade and Ivey, as both are very good in the mid-range. Silas’ Dallas offense had fewer isolations plays than he ran in Houston (a lot of those were the players going off script), which should fit right in with Monty Williams’ philosophy of ball movement and quick decisions.
Silas has an offensive cast that is better suited to his style in Detroit, and without the responsibilities of the head coach, he should be able to turn the Pistons’ offense around quickly.