Pistons news: Monty Williams fired, who is the frontrunner to replace him?
The Detroit Pistons made a vocal part of the fanbase very happy today by firing head coach Monty Williams.
Trajan Langdon started the necessary housecleaning by first firing GM Troy Weaver and then turned his attention to the coaching staff, though according to Adrian Wojnarowski, the decision was made from above:
The decision to fire Monty Williams now was made at the ownership level, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/JoBuIBy0Bo
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 19, 2024
It’s hard to defend Williams, who can obviously coach, but didn’t do much of it last season. His rotations were inexplicable and at times he looked like he’d rather be anywhere but Detroit. This gives Langdon a chance to start fresh with his own guy.
He got the ball rolling by luring shooting guru Fred Vinson away from New Orleans, which was a coup for a team near the bottom of the league in shooting.
Could he bring another coach from the Big Easy?
Detroit Pistons news: Is James Borrego the frontrunner for the head coaching position?
Former head coach James Borrego has been a candidate for several open coaching positions this offseason including the Lakers and Cavaliers.
He’s currently the associate head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans, so obviously has ties to Langdon, who has already poached one coach from his former team.
Borrego’s NBA career started with the Spurs, where he won two titles as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich. He bounced around after that as an assistant under Monty Williams in New Orleans, as lead assistant and interim head coach of the Magic, back to assistant with the Spurs and eventually getting the head job with the Charlotte Hornets.
He had a 138-163 record with Charlotte, which isn’t great, but he did lead them to one winning season when they had the best offense in the league. He is also credited with improving the offense in New Orleans, so sounds like the kind of candidate a team with the worst offense the league might consider.
There will certainly be other candidates interviewed, but this late in the game, Langdon might go with someone who not only has experience but a coach with whom he has a personal relationship.
That could make Borrego the frontrunner, but we’ll have to see how this plays out over the next few days.
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