After the worst season in team history, the Detroit Pistons decided to bring in a new president of basketball operations to try and right the ship.
Trajan Langdon was handed an awkward situation with a GM and head coach under contract, though he was reportedly under no obligation to keep either of them.
He decided to part ways with Troy Weaver and then turned his attention to the coaching staff, specifically Monty Williams.
The hiring of Fred Vinson only intensified speculation that Williams would stay, and that speculation was reinforced by insider Marc Stein (subscription) who had this to say about the Pistons intentions with Williams:
"Yet one source with knowledge of Detroit's thinking told The Stein Line that Fridays ESPN report about the Pistons hiring Fred Vinson away from New Orleans as an assistant coach is a clear signal that Williams will be back for Year 2 of his six-year contract worth nearly $80 million.
The source described it as the likely outcome."
I would add that Langdon hasn’t even been introduced in a press conference yet, so this is all speculation until he is and announces officially that Monty Williams will be back.
If that is the case, has Langdon already made his first mistake?
Is keeping Monty Williams all about the money for the Detroit Pistons?
If you want to argue context for why Monty Williams was so bad last season you can. He inherited a bad roster that he had no hand in assembling.
He was given a young team with zero veteran leadership by a GM who was on his way out the door. It was the first season, blah, blah blah.
Legitimate excuses exist, but so do the following facts:
-The Pistons just won 14 games, fewest in team history and three fewer than Dwane Casey won without Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson. The Pistons were literally tanking for Wembanyama and still won more games than Williams who was trying to win.
-Williams admittedly screwed up with Jaden Ivey, benching him in favor of a player who is no longer in the NBA.
-The Pistons had to cut said player (the former #7 pick in the draft) just to get him out of Williams’ rotation.
-The Pistons had to have a team meeting to address the Ivey situation, essentially forcing Monty to use one of his best players in a bigger role.
-Detroit set the NBA record, losing 28 games in a row in a single season.
-Williams had visible disagreements with his best player.
-Williams looked noticeably checked out during much of the season.
-Williams continued to use all bench lineups when it was clear they weren’t working. He had one of the worst rosters in the league and played it as if he had the 1989 Pistons with a whole new starting unit on the bench instead of a bunch of guys who are not long for the NBA.
Outside of his track record and the context, there is no quantifiable way to justify bringing Monty Williams back.
If Williams does come back, I am sure he will not be given as much leeway as he had last season, but if that is the case, why not just fire him and bring in your own guy now?
James Borrego from the Pelicans is currently a top candidate and could probably be lured to Detroit if Langdon decided to go in a different direction.
He may not have a choice, as Tom Gores may not want to eat that much money and may have asked Langdon to keep Monty around for at least one more season to soften the blow.
But it’s Langdon who will be on the hook if it doesn’t work out, so if Monty ends up fired two months into next season, we’ll look back on this as the first decision he got wrong.
Of course, he could still fire Monty. There is also a chance that Williams bounces back, the Pistons improve, and Langdon looks like a genius. If Williams does stay around, both he and Langdon will be under an early microscope.