For years, people tried arguing that coaching didn’t matter in the NBA as long as you had the star players to catapult a team to success. Time and again, that notion has been disproved. Teams are looking to maximize their advantage in coaching and paying more than ever to do so. This summer, we saw Monty Williams get the largest coaching contract in NBA history from the Pistons ($13.05 million in 23-24) just for the Spurs to give Gregg Popovich an even more valuable contract ($16.0 million in 23-24).
The Pistons (2-24) and Spurs (4-21) are among the two worst teams in the NBA, with the Pistons having only won two games all year and currently on a 23-game losing streak. The Spurs were on a 16-game losing streak until recently and have won just four games this season. Both Monty and Pop’s teams have combined for a 6-44 record this season, making the financial investments into them look dubious.
Popovich deserves every penny of what he’s achieved in over two decades of coaching with the Spurs. He’s arguably the greatest coach in history with his incredible body of work, but the last five seasons have been incredibly challenging for him. Ever since losing Kawhi Leonard in 2019, the Spurs haven’t been competitive and Pop has spent the last four seasons in the lottery. Before that, Popovich had a 22-season streak of making the playoffs with San Antonio.
Monty Williams was arguably the biggest-name free agent in the coaching pool after being let go by the Phoenix Suns. Despite having no championship on his resume, Williams has earned respect around the league for finding ways to turn around bad teams into good teams. The Suns are his biggest success story, taking a perennial lottery franchise to the NBA Finals in their first playoff appearance. That hasn’t rubbed on over to Detroit, with the Pistons looking shambolic and people already calling for Monty’s job.
Steve Kerr is the third-highest-paid coach in the NBA and is also under .500 with a 12-14 record with the Warriors. However, winning four titles in the last nine seasons will likely earn him a long leash. These contracts have possibly made him realize he could be in line for a massive payday whenever his contract is up.
Given the financial commitments these teams have to their coaches, it’s highly unlikely we see a mid-season coaching change. Popovich’s job isn’t under any threat, so he’ll remain in charge but Monty could face the axe if the Pistons hover close to having the worst record in NBA history.
What’s Gone Wrong For The Spurs And Pistons?
The Spurs are in a year of experimentation. As Gregg Popovich had told Fadeaway World earlier this season, they don’t want to put any limits on Victor Wembanyama and see everything that he’s capable of in his first season. This is very much a transitional season for the Spurs, who’re experimenting with their lineup.
Running Jeremy Sochan at point guard has been a key observation, especially with how that doesn’t look like the ideal future direction. They could be a better team if they started playing in a more structured manner, with Tre Jones as the starting point guard, but it’s clear Popovich values giving his team some freedom. When it’s winning time, we’ve seen what Pop can achieve.
Williams was brought in with the intent to see some immediate improvement on a Pistons roster that’s been rooted to the bottom of the East since 2019. That hasn’t materialized in any way, with the team somehow regressing from their 17-65 record last year. That was a winning percentage of 20.7% as compared to 7.7% this season. Williams hasn’t found consistency in his lineups and seems unsure of how to play the pieces on the roster together.
He is a great coach and could turn it around if he gets another veteran in the locker room or makes further adjustments like benching Killian Hayes and giving Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson starting spots.
Both teams could have extremely high potential, but their highly-paid coaches need to extract it out of them as well.
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