DETROIT – The Detroit Pistons have dismissed head coach Monty Williams with five years and $65 million remaining on his contract.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the move on Wednesday morning, June 19, 2024. The Pistons confirmed the news later in the day.
Williams signed a massive six-year deal with the Pistons last offseason, but his lone year in Detroit didn’t go as planned.
The Pistons finished with a 14-68 record, the worst in franchise history and good for dead last in the NBA.
Williams was hired by Troy Weaver after Dwane Casey failed to win a playoff game in five seasons. Casey led the Pistons to a first-round sweep in 2019, but then averaged just 20 wins over the next four years.
The Pistons showed Weaver the door last month and brought in Trajan Langdon as the new president of basketball operations.
Wojnarowski reports the decision to fire Williams was made at the ownership level.
The Pistons received the No. 5 pick in the draft for the second year in a row despite once again finishing with the worst record. They haven’t won a playoff game in 16 years, getting swept three times in the first round.