This is called an “offer you can’t refuse”. When he was fired by the Suns after the elimination in the conference semi-finals, Monty Williams had nevertheless explained to the Pistons, Bucks and other teams interested in his services that he intended to take a step back by relation to coaching.
With a severance check of $21 million, the coach had plenty to see ahead and, at 51, he obviously felt the need to breathe a little after the rich years lived in Arizona.
Tom Gores goes “all-in”
On the side of the Pistons, we were about to choose between Charles Lee and Kevin Ollie to take over from Dwane Casey, until Tom Gores, the owner of the club, decided to go “all-in” to convince Monty Williams. And what an “all-in” since we are simply talking about the biggest contract in history for a coach!
According to ESPNthis is indeed a monstrous offer of $78.5 million over six years, so that The Athletic adds that the franchise has options for the seventh and eighth years of the lease. With the bonuses, the total could reach 100 million dollars for Monty Williams…
The Pistons hope that Monty Williams can revive them as he managed to revive the Suns.
When he arrived in Arizona in 2019, the former Hornets / Pelicans coach thus recovered a somewhat cursed position, and a team that accumulated failed seasons, around 20 wins, on which many coaches ( Jeff Hornacek, Earl Watson, Jay Triano, Igor Kokoskov…) had broken their teeth.
Will the Monty Williams Effect work in Michigan?
But the fine run in the “bubble” changed the face of Devin Booker’s troupe, which actually reached the Finals the following year, boosted by the arrival of Chris Paul. The Suns followed up with the best regular season in club history (64 wins) but have failed to advance beyond the conference semi-finals for the past two seasons, with two frustrating outings, first against to the Mavericks of Luka Doncic then against the Nuggets of Nikola Jokic, despite the arrival of Kevin Durant during the campaign.
“Monty, for me, changed the whole franchise (of Phoenix). Forget the coaching part. Monty changed the whole franchise. This franchise was everyone’s laughingstock, and because they’re getting kicked out… I don’t know what he was supposed to do. They made a trade that I think will be a good trade in the long term, but probably not in the short term, and Monty was held accountable for that.” explained Doc Rivers on the impact of Monty Williams to the Suns, when he could also succeed him in Arizona.
In Detroit, we hope that the “Monty Williams effect” will work in Michigan, to finally launch Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart or Killian Hayes. And we put the package to test it.
