Goodbye Monty Williams, Hello Trajan Langdon, and the NBA Draft is this Week
The Pistons have officially cleaned house with the expensive dismissal of head coach Monty Williams.
Good morning Pistons fans, and welcome to the Weekly Drive. Monty Williams is out of a job, Trajan Langdon was officially introduced, and the NBA Draft is this week. That’s a lot, so let’s get into all of it.
Goodbye, Monty
The Pistons fired Monty Williams.
Now that is an update.
Detroit relieved Williams of his duties after just one season into a six-year $78.5 million contract. That means team owner Tom Gores will be paying Williams more than $65 million to not coach the team for the next half-decade. But, after all, it was both his decision to hire and fire, Williams. Heavy is the head that wears the (solid gold) crown.
The Pistons had to fire Williams. There was simply no way around it. Sure, they could’ve made excuses like a bad roster and injuries, but the vibes were immaculately bad. One source told me that Williams looked “visibly checked out” in November before the real losing began.
Remember, Williams started Killian Hayes over Jaden Ivey for the first few months of the season. Hayes is no longer in the league. His justification for starting Isaiah Livers one night was “he just felt like it”. He ran out all bench units despite Detroit’s bench not only being bad but the worst in the entire league.
Williams and the Pistons were a match made in Hell. But, thankfully, merciful salvation is upon them both. There are already some candidates in mind.
Trajan Langdon Press Conference
After weeks, and another hour-long delay Friday, the Pistons finally formally introduced Langdon as President of Basketball Operations. Both he and Gores held a press conference discussing the dismissals of Troy Weaver and Williams, the strategy for the offseason, and other topics. Our own Aaron Johnson was on site for the event covering things.
Here are the big takeaways, which may or may not be encouraging for Pistons fans:
Detroit will be operating this offseason with the mindset of taking on bad contracts and assets
The organization won’t be “skipping steps” to get back to the postseason
It doesn’t seem that the Pistons will for sure be keeping their draft pick this week
The part that may irk some fans is the second bullet. The pressure to put a good roster around Cade Cunningham is right now, and really it was last season as well. He’s eligible for a contract extension and, if the Pistons don’t show they are all in on winning sooner rather than later, that may impact Cunningham’s decision to re-sign.
That first bullet should be encouraging, but the Pistons should have been in the market of taking on bad contracts for assets four years ago. Instead, they traded for guys like Joe Harris for…essentially nothing. As for the NBA Draft…
The NBA Draft is Wednesday?
Yes, you read that right. The NBA Draft is this week. The Pistons will be picking fifth, and we have been covering some potential prospects that should be available. Mock drafts from reputable outlets have been all over the place with the top picks, so it could be a crazy evening. Check out our scouting reports for some of the prospects that could be available when the Pistons are on the clock:
Five players the Pistons could take with the fifth pick
Dalton Knecht would be a perfect fit with Detroit
Donovan Clingan would be a great defensive anchor
Zaccharie Risacher fits the mold in the front court for the Pistons
Other News and Notes
Coming off a contract extension, Detroit will reportedly search the market for a potential Isaiah Stewart trade per Yahoo Sports.
In the same article, Yahoo reports that Detroit is expected to sign Simone Fontecchio to a new contract.
The wing-needy Pistons will reportedly be one of the teams in on New Orleans forward Naji Marshall.
Fresh off an NBA Finals appearance, the Dallas Mavericks will reportedly look to offload guard Tim Hardaway Jr. to clear cap space. Keep an eye on the Pistons, who could get an extra asset with Hardaway from Dallas.
Tobias Harris was earmarked to head back to Detroit this offseason, but there will reportedly be other teams interested in the veteran wing.
It was a big week for the Pistons, and it’ll be another big week coming up with the NBA Draft. Check back in next week for a recap of the draft, any trades that go down, and an update on the head coaching search. Until then, have a great week.
- Mike