Can failure produce success? — The Pistons are right to hire Monty Williams
The Pistons hiring Monty Williams is a good move for everybody.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you got rewarded every time you failed in order to get yourself back up and running? That’s exactly what just happened to Monty Williams, the former Phoenix Suns head coach who lost in the 2023 NBA Playoffs semifinals with a team composed of 3 hall-of-famers (Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Kevin Durant). Yes, this is an oversimplification of the new roster dynamics that Williams had to figure out with the freshly-acquired Durant who had only played 8 regular season games before entering the postseason. Not to mention that this was not a straightforward transaction that landed Durant in Phoenix; it involved 8 players, 19 picks and 4 teams. All of this is to say that even with arguably the best starting lineup in the NBA, Williams had to rely on a depth chart that makes Erik Spoelstra’s repertoire of undrafted sleeper agents seem like superstars. 2023 was a year of mass upheaval for the Phoenix organization due to the sale of the franchise from the disgraced Robert Sarver, to a spunky and hands-on Matt Ishbia. Following the trade, Ishbia talked with Sports Illustrated to explain that the exchange was not necessarily a championship-or-bust move, but more of a step towards maintaining the franchise’s “win today phase”. This “phase” predates Ishbia, as it was just 2 years ago where the Suns went up 2–0 against the Milwaukee Bucks ion the NBA Finals before losing 4 in a row to hand Giannis Antetokounmpo his first title. Moreover, the Suns finished last season with the best record in the NBA by far, only to see themselves fall victim to one of the worst meltdowns in postseason history against the Dallas Mavericks in the semifinals. Still, the winning culture existed alongside Williams’ 309–194 record as Phoenix’s head coach and it’s clear that the Detroit Pistons felt confident in this track record, as they signed the coach to 6-year/$78.5 million deal.
It was only days ago where it was made publicly known that Williams rejected a lucrative offer from Detroit, as he clearly did not see them as a priority landing spot to continue his career. Whether there was an increase in the numbers that pushed the deal over the edge, what is now being scrutinized is the fact that the NBA’s highest-paid coach is someone who’s never won a championship, made the finals once and has debatably had his record inflated by a star-studded Phoenix roster. Regardless of whether Williams deserved the job is not my concern here though, what I want to highlight is the beneficial precedent that a deal like this sets for the rest of NBA coaches who find themselves succumbing to impatient owners or unreasonably high expectations. Nick Nurse and Mike Budenholzer were both just some years removed from historic title runs with the Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks respectively before getting fired. The Raptors suffered from the immediate departure of their best player (Kawhi Leonard), as well as key role-players like Marc Gasol and Danny Green, while the Bucks continued to be a title-favorite both years following their 2021 success. Nurse and Budenholzer are NBA-level coaches, if not great ones, but they both had to balance precarious interests from the front office of both franchises; Toronto has to decide whether to blow it up or choose specific players to rebuild around and the Bucks needs to prove to Giannis that it’s worth it to stay in Milwaukee. Similarly, Monty was a casualty of new-owner confusion, where anything short of a championship for a competitive team is usually deemed a failure after franchise ownership is exchanged; this was only intensified by Ishbia’s nonchalant confidence behind the Durant trade. Thus, Williams was scapegoated and banished to the obscure realm of successful coaches who haven’t realized their potential.
Detroit has a vision though! In a similar position as Williams, Dwyane Casey had just won Coach of the Year in 2018 before getting sacked by the front office for letting LeBron James toy with Casey’s Raptors every postseason. Detroit recognized the talent and Casey proceeded to coach the Pistons until this year, where he was moved up to the front office, making space for Williams to succeed him. Detroit knows prosperity is not imminent; their 2021 #1 pick Cade Cunningham was sidelined with injuries for most of this past season and the roster is filled with young potential that needs mentoring (Jalen Duren, Jaden Ivey, etc.). This enables Williams to have the leeway that coaches like Erik Spoelstra and Mike Malone have received through the trials and tribulations of their tenures without the immediate expectations that have been normalized by luxury-tax-neglecting franchises like the Lakers and Suns. If Williams finds gradual success with the Pistons, it’ll provide more credence to the notion that a team needs to grow alongside a coach, not the coach forcefully trying to mature an established roster with predetermined expectations thrust upon them.
Williams’ hire also sets an interesting precedent for how owners engage with the development of their franchise. Pistons owner Tom Gores’ decision to give Williams a more expensive contract than those wielded by other legends like Erik Spoelstra and Gregg Poppovich feels like a direct challenge that is telling other owners to put their money where their mouth is. If you want to inspire confidence and unity between a coach and their players, a long-term contract is an indication of stability that leaves one less thing for players to worry about. Obviously not every coach should be given an extensive deal off a hunch of perceived potential, but veteran coaches need time to adjust to an ever-changing NBA landscape that they have already proven themselves to be naturally adept to. This is ironically no more evident than with Ishbia’s replacement hire for Williams, Frank Vogel. Vogel was quickly ousted from the Lakers just 2 seasons removed from winning the Bubble championship in 2020. The couple years that followed featured a ‘20-’21 season where LeBron suited up 45 times, with Anthony Davis doing so for a paltry 36 games, and then his firing after the ‘21-’22 season was basically collateral damage for the short-sighted Russell Westbrook acquisition. The Lakers did not fare better in their first regular season without Vogel, but found success in the 2023 playoffs due to a streak of consistency to end the season that was driven by a healthy Davis and LeBron playing through injury; Vogel did not have these luxuries or apparent dedication from the two superstars after 2020.
Nurse and Williams found new jobs before the end of the postseason, which makes the concept that coaches get fired for being bad coaches seem absurd. There are coaches who get fired for rejecting innovation (*cough* *cough* Doc Rivers), but most get removed because of their situational context, front office idealization or general NBA politics. Williams was referenced by Sam Amico to have said “A week ago, I was not sure what the future would hold, but, after talking with Tom (Gores) and Troy (Weaver), I was excited hearing their vision for the Pistons going forward. They had a thoughtful plan and I am so appreciative of the emphasis they placed on the personal side of this business.” That “personal side” is a deliberate attempt by Williams to highlight what is missing in the relationship between front offices and coaches: empathy and realism.
