Will Monty Williams be the Russell Wilson of NBA coaches?

Things have not gone to plan for Monty Williams and the Detroit Pistons.

When he was first hired, it looked like a coup for the Pistons, who had lured Williams out of a "year off" after interviewing several lesser-known coaches.

Williams had recently been to the NBA Finals and had a track record of taking young teams to the next level as he did in Phoenix.

But the Pistons are worse, and even though Monty Williams is still owed a ton of guaranteed money, there is already speculation that he might be fired at the end of the season.

It's eerily reminiscent of the current situation with the Denver Broncos of the NFL, who recently cut quarterback Russell Wilson and took a massive cap hit in the process:

These are obviously different sports and very different situations, but there are some similarities between the Denver Broncos and Detroit Pistons. The Broncos had a disappointing season (though it pales in comparison to Detroit), as have the Pistons, who were at least supposed to make a mini leap in year four of their rebuild, but it doesn't end there.

The Detroit Pistons went for the big name

I haven't watched the NFL in a LONG time and do not follow it at all, but I still know who Russell Wilson is. Wilson led the Seahawks to two Superbowls and won one of them.

Quarterbacks who win Superbowls get plenty of benefit of the doubt, similar to coaches who win titles in the NBA. Once you win one, you have that reputation and Wilson is a popular player who the fans could immediately get behind.

It wasn't much different in Detroit, who went for the known name rather than try something new, forgoing a chance to hire someone like Kevin Ollie, Charles Lee or Jarron Collins in favor of Williams.

Williams has never won a title, but he's been close and had a resume the other three newcomers couldn't compete with.

But the big name isn't always the right name, which both the Broncos and Pistons found out the hard way with decisions that could be very costly financially.

Firing Monty Williams won't be cheap for the Detroit Pistons

Unlike cutting your quarterback who is still owed a ton of money, firing your coach at least doesn't affect the team's cap space in the NBA.

So if Tom Gores were to decide that one season was all he needed to see, he could fire Monty Williams without affecting his team's financial health.

But it would affect his, as firing Monty Williams would cost Gores around $65 million, a drop in the bucket for him, but still a lot of money to pay a guy not to work for you.

It's not as much as the Broncos have to eat for cutting Wilson, but it's not far off, so like Denver, Detroit has to decide if it's a sunk cost they are willing to eat.

Of course, if Monty Williams mutually decided he didn't want to come back, Gores could likely get out of some of that obligation, but it's still going to cost him a pretty penny if he wants a new coach and that's before you even get to the salary of the next person.

Will Monty Williams be the Russell Wilson of NBA coaches? We'll soon see.