It’s been just about two weeks since the Detroit Pistons announced the appointment of head coach Monty Williams and the hype surrounding him has yet to die down.
The former first-round pick is coming off of a season where his Phoenix Suns failed to meet expectations after the addition of Kevin Durant to pair with Devin Booker and Chris Paul didn’t go according to plan. While the Suns had hopes of a title, the Denver Nuggets would send them packing for Cancun in six games. Following the Suns’ second round exit, Williams was given the axe by the organization and the race for his signature began.
With the Bucks firing Mike Budenholzer, Milwaukee seemed to be his next likely destination seeing as they are already contenders in the east. With that in mind and his resume of nearly 30 years NBA experience, a finals appearance in 2021 and four top three seed finishes in each of his years with Phoenix, it seemed like a no-brainer.
However, the Pistons were a dark horse in the race for Williams that fans and analysts alike were intrigued with. Williams has a connection to the Pistons in General Manager Troy Weaver, with whom he spent the 2015-16 season with during his time with the Oklahoma City Thunder. At the time Williams was Associate Head Coach to now Bulls Head Coach Billy Donovan while Weaver acted as Assistant GM. With that in mind as well as the young core and lottery pick Detroit holds this season, this seemed like a great rebuilding project for both Williams and the Pistons.
Williams just wrapped up his first press conference with the organization on Tuesday and it could not have gone any better.
For starters, the fact that the entire team–apart from Bojan Bogdanović–showed up to support their incoming head coach was a massive morale booster for the coaching staff, fans and players.
“To have the whole team here, outside of Bojan, is amazing.” Williams said during his presser. “It messed me up this morning in the meeting when I found out all you guys were here. I’m so grateful to all of you guys for being here and I’m grateful to have dogs like you in the fight with me.”
With rumors now circulating that Bogdanović could potentially be used as trade bait for the Dallas Mavericks’ 10th overall pick, his absence is starting to become a bit clearer.
Secondly, Williams said all the right things following his opening statements. He understands the rich history this organization has and although it’s been quite some time since Detroit has seen the top of the NBA totem pole, Williams is prepared to turn that around.
“We have a chance to restore and that was something that Troy [Weaver] kept saying that piqued my interest, when he said restore,” Williams said. “It was never rebuild. When something has been great you can restore it back to greatness. That to me was part of the selling point as opposed to trying to redo what we did in Phoenix.”
Lasty, the reassurance he kept giving his squad was a great thing for fans and his players to hear. The Pistons held the worst record in the league last season having gone 17-65 and were without their 2021 first overall pick Cade Cunningham for virtually the entire season as he dealt with injury.
Williams left no doubt in the minds of his players. He fully believes in each and every one of them and feels they can bring the best out of him this upcoming season.
“You look at the talent on this team, you look at the vets on this team, you look at the trials that they’ve been through the last few years–it doesn’t just give you hope, it gives you excitement,” Williams said. “I was talking to my mentor, Pastor Bill, when I got the job he said, ‘You think you are going to be what they need, I think this is what you need.’
“That really impacted me about these guys. He said, ‘These guys are going to be good for you,’ and that was a huge blessing for me to hear that because it’s always the other way around. A coach is supposed to come in and change everything, I’m looking forward to how they’re going to impact me in a cool way.”
While I personally don’t expect the Pistons to make a huge turnaround next season, I do expect to see some exciting basketball with flashes of what they could become in the next 2-4 years. They have a very talented young core already plus the fifth pick in next week’s draft (Detroit was robbed of top three IMO) and could potentially swoop in for the 10th pick as well.
If the Pistons do manage to fleece the Mavs for that 10th pick it would be huge as this year’s class has so much talent. Various mock drafts have the likes of Amen and Ausar Thompson, Jarace Walker, Cam Whitmore and Taylor Hendricks as potential picks for Detroit at 5 and personally, I like them all. Add in another lottery pick just five spots further down the board and Detroit could be cooking up something crazy.
With one of the best coaches in the league now landing in Detroit, Williams has the chance to etch his name in Detroit history and I for one am very excited.
Photo Credits: Courtesy of the Detroit Pistons
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