The Detroit Pistons confirmed Wednesday that they have fired head coach Monty Williams after one season on the bench.
The decision was first reported by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Williams' abrupt departure came after Detroit signed him to a record six-year, $78.5 million contract. The Pistons will have to pay him more than $65 million in exchange for no longer coaching him.
As a result, the series has been the subject of much ridicule.
Still, admitting they made a costly mistake was better than continuing a partnership that wasn't working, one that risked doing far more damage to the team than if the owners had simply written Williams a big check.
And it only took a year for serious questions to arise about Williams' fit with the Pistons' young roster.
Not only was Detroit's 14-68 record the franchise's worst record and the team's longest losing streak (28 games) in a season, but Williams didn't seem to foster a culture that would benefit him in the long run and some of his strategic decisions were puzzling to say the least.
Selecting Killian Hayes, who was released in February, as the starter to open the season over Jaeden Ivey was a head-scratcher, as was relying on the likes of Evan Fournier, Malachi Flynn and James Wiseman to tinker with a lineup that had little to no promise.
I'm not saying the Pistons will make a playoff berth with a head coaching change.
Detroit hired Trajan Langdon as its new president of basketball operations at the start of the offseason and fired general manager Troy Weaver as his first order of business, effectively hitting the reset button after five years in the lottery, a sign that the rebuild has failed.
Langdon now has a chance to hire a head coach who is a better fit for the team, and while the Pistons entered into their coaching change relatively late, the task of replacing Williams likely would have limited the pool of candidates whenever a vacancy occurred.
One advantage is that there is enough patience given to whoever comes.
