It hasn't taken long for former Coach of the Year winner Monty Williams to find a new job.
Only a few weeks after getting let go by the Suns, the Pistons are jumping at the opportunity to snag a proven winner, preparing to make Williams a massive offer in the range of $12 million per year, per The Athletic's Shams Charania. That deal would make him the highest-paid coach in the league ahead of Gregg Popovich, per Sportico.
Here's why the Pistons are planning to offer Williams the bag and why he might agree to it.
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Why Pistons are set to make Monty Williams the NBA's highest-paid head coach
Williams has a proven resume of turning around franchises.
In his first head coaching stint, he took over a 37-win Hornets team and got them up to 46 wins in the next year, along with two playoff appearances. In Phoenix, he took over a 19-win team and had them in the Finals in his second year.
Williams would be tasked with that same type of turnaround in Detroit, where the Pistons are coming off a disappointing 17-65 season.
Williams is so highly sought-after largely because of his reputation for developing great relationships with everyone not named Deandre Ayton. That would certainly be useful with a young roster in Detroit. He also has a pre-existing relationship with general manager Troy Weaver, dating back to their shared days working with the Thunder, allowing them to be on the same page.
The main job in Detroit, though, would be getting the Pistons to play with more consistency and cut out the mistakes that have allowed them to beat themselves.
The Pistons were a terrible clutch team, finding ways to lose down the stretch. Their 11-26 record in what the NBA defines as "clutch" games was far and away the worst in the league.
The contrast to Williams' Suns teams is stark. They were just 17-19 this season in clutch games, but they were a top-five team of all time a year ago and an outstanding 25-12 two seasons ago.
Williams' teams haven't won with amazingly creative schemes, although they have been quite good. Rather, they have beaten opponents with pinpoint precision and execution. They don't make mistakes.
Monty Williams would be walking into a much better Pistons situation than people may think
Williams is one of the best coaching candidates on the market, so at first blush, it may seem odd that he might join a team coming off a disappointing 17 wins and nowhere close to championship contention. But this roster does have some interesting pieces.
Cade Cunningham will be coming back from a shin injury that kept him out of the last 70 games of the season. After struggling out of the gate as a rookie, the former No. 1 pick of the 2021 NBA Draft looked like he was starting to put some things together towards the end of his rookie season and start of his second season. It would be a mistake to sleep on how good he could potentially be.
Likewise, the No. 5 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft Jaden Ivey started off his rookie campaign slowly, but his numbers surged after the All-Star break as the game started to slow down for him.
| Points | Rebounds | Assists | |
| Pre All-Star | 15.2 | 3.9 | 4.6 |
| Post All-Star | 19.3 | 3.7 | 7.1 |
Ivey initially struggled with the role of being the lead ballhandler for the Pistons, which he was thrust into after Cunningham's injury. He showed tremendous growth particularly as a pull-up shooter in the second half of the year, as documented by Detroit Bad Boys' Jack Kelly.
Bojan Bogdanovic was far and away the most productive Piston, averaging 21.6 points per game on a sterling 48.8 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from 3. The veteran is under contract for another two years.
The Pistons have a number of other promising pieces, including reliable big man Isaiah Stewart and All-Rookie big man Jalen Duren. James Wiseman, acquired in a mid-season trade, looked the best he ever has in his career in Detroit. And they also have the No. 5 pick in this year's draft.
It may seem like Williams would be starting from scratch, but there is talent on this roster to work with. They need a leader to put it all together, and they are picking one with impeccable credentials.
