Pistons Renew Commitment To Young Core With Monty Williams Signing

The Detroit Pistons have been on the lookout for a new head coach the past couple of months after having Dwane Casey on the sidelines for the better part of the past five years, and they finally have their man in the form of Monty Williams.

NBA insiders Shams Charania and James L. Edwards III broke the news that they had signed him to a six-year, $72 million deal that includes “team options for years 7 and 8 and could reach close to $100 million in totality with incentives.”

While ink has yet to be put on paper to officially make him their new head coach, the Pistons struck gold in signing the 2021-22 season’s NBA Coach of the Year.

Highly touted amongst fanbases and players as a culture-setting head coach, Williams fits in perfectly with the Pistons’ young core as he has shown that he can build something special out of what appeared to be misfit pieces, which he did with his last franchise.

In his first season with the Phoenix Suns, Williams’ first order of business was to create healthy team culture upon which he built their improbable success.

Williams had carte blanche with how he handled the team and further boosted franchise cornerstone Devin Booker’s combo guard skills while having the services of Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson as their core four.

The 2020 NBA Bubble lit something in the Suns as they would go on to end their eight-game run with an undefeated record which later paved the way for them to become perennial playoff contenders–even netting the franchise’s third-ever NBA Finals berth in 2021.

Now a member of the Pistons, Williams has another young core at his fingertips led by sophomore star Cade Cunningham, 2020 second overall pick James Wiseman, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren plus Killian Hayes and Marvin Bagley III.

For Williams, the pressure to deliver a title for the Suns after their success in 2021 may have affected his coaching in the succeeding seasons as they were bounced in the second round of the playoffs twice–something he does not need to worry about in Detroit.

Hailed as a “player’s coach,” Williams brings with him his seemingly innate ability to get the most out of his players on the floor while also delivering inspirational quotes in the locker room which was something that drew the love and support of Phoenix fans.

Williams is the type of coach to get the ball rolling for a franchise sorely needing direction and as the Pistons focus on developing their core, the aforementioned core group is set to see new heights as early as next season.

Unfortunately, Cunningham was only limited to five games after sustaining an injury to his shin, but with no pressure to become playoff competitors, he and Ivey can focus on developing their on-court rapport while being guided by Williams.

As for Duren, Bagley and Wiseman, Williams has a trio of bigs that fits in perfectly with how he wanted Ayton to be with the Suns–aggressive in the paint and all-out effort regardless of playing time.

The Pistons are going for long-term stability and their future is extremely bright with Williams leading the charge from the sidelines