Detroit — Tom Gores wanted to hire the best coach possible to give the Pistons the resources needed for sustained success.
The Pistons’ owner sat on the dais Tuesday evening alongside his general manager, Troy Weaver, and his new head coach, Monty Williams, and stressed the importance of selecting the right person to lead at such a pivotal moment for the franchise.
“It was critical,” Gores said. “It’s a really important time. It was also about these players over here. They literally have trusted us and were holding their own practices and they have their own fortitude. They really were able to stay together and there was a moment when Troy and I, we were together and we said, ‘Those young men are relying on us.’ We had, I wouldn’t call it a yelling match at all, but we just talked about how important it was to deliver to our players.”
The Pistons began their search for a new coach in April, shortly after Dwane Casey announced his transition to the front office. Weaver revealed on Tuesday that Casey will be a special assistant to the general manager and the front office. Casey was in attendance for Williams’ introductory press conference, along with most of Detroit’s roster.
Williams received an overture from the Pistons to gauge his interest shortly after he was fired from the Phoenix Suns, but he indicated that he wanted to take a year off due to his wife’s recent breast cancer diagnosis. Detroit’s coaching search hit a snag in May, as the organization didn’t feel comfortable moving forward with three candidates who lacked NBA coaching experience, so Gores posed an idea to revisit a previous conversation with Williams with a more concrete offer — a record-breaking, six-year deal worth $78.5 million — that would go beyond the extra mile.
Weaver and Gores deliberated for five days before the Pistons owner used his personal plane to fly Williams out to his home in Los Angeles. Despite suggestions that Gores and Weaver weren’t on the same page during the process, Gores was well aware of the chatter, and he publicly refuted those reports.
“I understand that we took a long time,” Gores said. “I heard all the stuff with this and that — (that) Troy and I are not making decisions or Troy and I are not agreeing. We kind of agreed most of the time. It was critical that we did it and we spent a lot of time getting this roster together for these young folks. We couldn’t quite make it as simple as everyone wanted.”
In the final moments of the press conference, Weaver took a brief pause before he spoke and thanked Gores for his generosity towards Williams and his family.
“A big part of this day happening is because of the thoughtfulness and heart that Tom has,” Weaver said. “For five days, (Pistons assistant general manager) George (David) kind of refereed Tom and I. It was just a moment where (Gores) really just poured out his thoughtfulness and his heart into this day happening. He believed that if you put your heart into something and you make people understand things a different way, you can get a different result.”
Gores has a history of going above and beyond to make sure the Pistons are well-equipped for a return to the postseason. He built a $90 million practice facility and headquarters in Midtown Detroit, where Tuesday’s press conference was held. He acquired the team’s G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise, which just finished its second season and partnered with Wayne State University to build a $25 million athletic facility. And he’s gone deep into his wallet to pay top dollar for veteran coaches, including Stan Van Gundy, Casey and now Williams.
But why? Aside from the fact that the Pistons are a legacy franchise that once stood among the league’s best, Gores said it was imperative to hire Williams because his players deserve a coach of that magnitude.
“We have great young players,” Gores said. “Their character is great. I feel like they’re very poised. They don’t necessarily act (as young as) their age. It was critical because we felt a responsibility to deliver. We’ve gone through a lot. We’ve gone through pain and so on, but like any good thing, you have to go through some pain.”
Now that a coach is in place, the Pistons will divert their attention back to the draft that is rapidly approaching and they’ll need to decide exactly what they’re going to do with the No. 5 and No. 31 overall picks or evaluate their options with potential trades, which could very much be in play.
It remains to be seen if Williams will be able to resurrect the Pistons from the bottom of the league’s standings, but Gores and the rest of the organization are hoping the pain doesn’t last too much longer.
mcurtis@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @MikeACurtis2