Former Pistons legend on hot seat along with Monty Williams
Monty Williams has taken plenty of criticism for the Detroit Pistons' 2023-24 season. On the verge of being the worst team in franchise history, things couldn't have gone much worse in Monty's first year in the Motor City.
It's gotten so bad that some are speculating that Williams will be fired, which would require Tom Gores to eat six years of salary, as Williams has no reason to take a buyout and there's no indication he would according to recent reporting from Jake Fischer.
If I had to bet, I'd say Monty Williams will be back, as he didn't build this injury-riddled and poorly constructed roster and owner Tom Gores personally recruited him for the job.
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But there's a former Pistons player who might not be so lucky in Chauncey Billups.
Monty Williams and Chauncey Billups on the hot seat
Like the Detroit Pistons, the Portland Trail Blazers are an underwhelming 21-57, which has prompted speculation that Chauncey Billups will be fired at the end of the season according to Fischer. Billups was in a tough spot after the Trail Blazers blew up the veteran team he inherited, as this is not the job he was hired to do, unlike Monty Williams, who knew exactly what he was getting into in Detroit.
This has to be a bittersweet time for Billups, who was just elected to the Hall-of-Fame while coaching one of the NBA's worst teams with speculation about his job security.
The biggest difference between Monty Williams and Chauncey Billups is the money owed, as Billups' entire five-year contract is worth less than one year of Monty's. Billups also took on a team with Damian Lillard that quickly pivoted to a rebuild. It's possible the Trail Blazers think Chauncey is the one to develop their young players, but if not, firing him won't be catastrophic financially for the Trail Blazers.
The Detroit Pistons have four more games remaining and will have to win three of them to even tie the worst record the team has ever had, but given how much money he is owed, Monty Williams' job is probably still safe.
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