SUMMARY
- The Pistons sacked Monty Williams after one season despite having a terrible roster.
- Teams need to realize that firing coaches isn't always a solution as three individuals have already fallen victim to this unusual trend.
The Detroit Pistons had rewired their management shortly after the regular season had concluded. Monty Williams was hired last season to a historic $78.5 million six-year deal to coach the Pistons. However, after another unsuccessful season and literally going on one of the worst losing streaks in NBA history, the organization decided to part ways with Williams.
ESPN Sources: After one season, the Detroit Pistons have dismissed coach Monty Williams — who leaves with five years and $65M-plus left on his deal. New President Trajan Langdon will move to make his own coaching hire now. pic.twitter.com/QHKivQS5o2
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 19, 2024
But was Williams responsible for the Pistons’ shortcomings? Not entirely. Lately, teams have been acquiring and dismissing coaches quite frequently. We witnessed three head coaches deal with the same fate during the 2023-24 season. Adrian Griffin was fired only a few months into his tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks. It was the same with Frank Vogel and the Phoenix Suns as well. Darvin Ham also parted ways with the LA Lakers after two years.
Looking at Monty Williams’ prior success, he wasn’t necessarily the problem
Considering how successful Monty Williams has been in the past while coaching the Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans, and various other teams, the Pistons certainly didn’t think it through. There were other problems to focus on such as the lack of elite talent on the roster.
Right now, the Pistons roster is being led by Cade Cunningham and emerging star Jaden Ivy. Both players have incredible potential but they aren’t All-Star caliber players yet. It’s obvious that teams with All-Stars are bound to find success, but a team without elite talent almost never wins. Perhaps instead of firing a capable coach like Williams, they should’ve made a few adjustments to the roster first.
Stacking superstars on one roster isn’t an option for NBA teams
Now acquiring All-Stars ultimately brings us to the topic of stacking. Usually, teams like to believe that acquiring multiple All-Stars to form a superteam would always work out. But that couldn’t be any further from the truth if you’ve paid attention to all the superteams that competed in the 2023-24 season.
The Bucks, Lakers, and Suns were prime examples of superteams that have been struggling irrespective of what the coach brings to the table. What teams actually need is a well-rounded roster, similar to what the Boston Celtics have going on at the moment. The Celtics have all the right pieces and follow “the next man up” ideology. Similarly, Joe Mazzulla wasn’t the most successful coach in the past, but he certainly had a great team built around him.