After seemingly turning down the Detroit Pistons last month, former Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams is reportedly back in the runngni for Detroit’s vacant head coaching opening.
James Edwards III and Shams Charania of The Athletic are reporting that the Pistons are once again pursuing the 2022 NBA Coach of the Year and are preparing a “significant” offer for him to take over as head coach.
Williams reportedly told teams he was content taking a year off (and collecting upwards of $21 million from the Suns) but Detroit GM Troy Weaver and owner Tom Gores have been persistent.
The Athletic is reporting that Detroit is prepared to make Williams one of the highest-paid coaches in the NBA with a salary around $10 million per season.
If Williams turns down the Pistons’ Godfather offer, Milwaukee assistant Charles Lee — not Troy Weaver favorite and former G League Ignite head of coaching Kevin Ollie — is expected to emerge as the top option, The Athletic reports.
Obviously, this is all great and exciting… but Williams still has to take the job.
But, this a uniting hire on a number of levels. Pistons fans have been split between Lee and Ollie — albeit the majority favoring the former over the latter — but hiring Williams would be the one hire the fanbase can all agree on as a fit.
The same, for better or worse, could be said in regard to Pistons leadership. There has reportedly been some friction between Tom Gores and Troy Weaver in regard to the coaching candidates who made it to interviews with the owner.
It’s easy to speculate that maybe Gores is a Lee guy whereas Troy is an Ollie fan.
Whatever the case may be, they weren’t aligned on one guy between those two, plus Pelicans assistant (and former Arn Tellem client) Jarron Collins.
But Monty? This is the one they can all agree on. Weaver has a pre-existing relationship with Williams dating back to — no, no, stop, not the DMV — their time with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
And Gores just loves established coaches. He’s never hired a first-time coach. He has, however, hired established guys who took teams to the playoffs in Lawrence Frank, Mo Cheeks, Stan Van Gundy and, most recently, Dwane Casey.
He’s got a type.
And while there is much to criticize about Gores as an owner and businessman, you cannot criticize his willingness to spend. He’s still a salesman at heart, and when he wants something, he’s willing to pull out his check book to get it.
So, yeah, this is unequivocally cool. Now, we just wait and see what Monty decides.
Let us know your take in the comments!