THE Detroit Pistons are back in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The three-time NBA champions fired coach Monty Williams on Wednesday — just a year after signing him to a historic six-year contract worth $78.5 million.
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Williams, 52, leaves the organization with $65 million remaining on his contract, which the Pistons will pay him over the next half-decade, according to ESPNIt’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The decision to part ways with the 2022 NBA Head Coach of the Year is believed to have been made at the ownership level.
This happened despite Williams holding regular meetings about the franchise’s future with Detroit’s new president of basketball operations, Trajan Langdon, according to the report.
Langdon now needs to begin a coaching search with the 2024 NBA Draft approaching.
The situation raised a lot of eyebrows on NBA Twitter.
“Damn… Detroit really doesn’t know what they’re doing,” one fan wrote on X.
“The worst organization in basketball,” added another.
“The Pistons may be the most poorly run organization in all of sports,” said a third.
“Why do NBA teams fire coaches after one season?”. one wrote.
Williams’ departure is even more intriguing considering the Pistons just hired a prominent new assistant coach.
They recently hired renowned shooting coach Fred Vinson from the New Orleans Pelicans.
Vinson worked with Langdon and Williams during his time at NOLA.
Williams accepted the job with the Pistons last year, although he had initially planned to take a season-long break due to his wife’s cancer diagnosis.
But then-general manager Troy Weaver ended up convincing the former Pelicans and Phoenix Suns coach to come on board and oversee Detroit’s rebuild.
2024 NBA Draft Request – Lottery Picks
- Atlanta Falcons
- Wizards of Washington
- Houston Rockets (via Brooklyn)
- St. Anthony’s incentive
- Detroit pistons
- Charlotte Hornets
- Portland Trail Blazers
- San Antonio Spurs (via Toronto)
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Utah Jazz
- Chicago buffaloes
- Oklahoma City Thunder (via Houston)
- Kings of Sacramento
- Portland Trail Blazers (via Golden State)
Williams’ Pistons went 14–68 in the 2023–24 NBA season, finishing with the league’s worst record.
During the campaign, they went on a 28-game losing streak, equaling the all-time mark.
Still, Detroit will not be selected first during the 2024 draft.
The organization fell to No. 5 during the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery.
The Atlanta Hawks earned the first overall pick despite only having a 3% chance of getting there.
The draft takes place between June 26th and 27th at the Barclays Center in New York City.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
