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The Detroit Pistons had a catastrophic 2023-24 NBA season. They tried to tank for the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft as they won just 14 games against 68 losses, but not only did they miss out on the top pick but they also slid all the way down to No. 5 in the order.
That pick could still turn out to be a savior for the Detroit franchise, but whether Monty Williams will still be there to call the shots for the Pistons appears to be a big question. There doesn't seem to be full certainty at the moment that Williams will continue to call the shots for Detroit, considering the historically embarrassing season the Pistons just had after him plus the fact that a new President Basketball of Operations has arrived in Detroit in the form of former Duke Blue Devils star Trajan Langdon.
Has Monty Williams coached his last game for the Pistons?
The introduction of Langdon to the Pistons could have big implications for the future of Williams with the Pistons, as raised by NBA insider Marc Stein.
“There is also the not-so-small matter of the Pistons deciding whether Williams, after a dreadful 14-68 debut season in Motown that included a 28-game losing streak to establish a new single-season league record, will actually be allowed to continue as Detroit's coach after all the spending on coaches he sparked,” wrote Stein.
For now, Williams remains as Pistons head coach but it is possible that the more information Langdon gets in his early stint in Detroit, the higher the chances of the team parting ways with the former NBA Coach of the Year winner. Even for a tanking team, the downright ineffectiveness of the Pistons to play coherent basketball over a sustained period of time was an undeniable blemish on Williams' resume. It's not all on Williams, as it must have taken incredible organizational ineptness for a team to go from 17 wins a year before to 14 victories.
“New Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon, who officially took charge Friday, has been given the latitude to make any basketball changes he sees fit. Detroit has already parted ways with GM Troy Weaver, who declined an offer to stay on in a scouting capacity, and one source with knowledge of the Pistons' thinking says Langdon will immediately begin an evaluation phase that includes an assessment of Williams' status,” Stein added.
Under Williams, the Pistons won back-to-back games just three times in the 2023-24 NBA season and they never managed to stitch together three wins in a row. Apart from their record-setting 28-game losing skid, the Pistons also had four separate six-game winless streaks. Moreover, the Pistons ranked 27th in the entire league in adjusted offensive rating with just 109.4 points per 100 possessions and 25th overall with an adjusted defensive rating of 118.0.
Who is Trajan Langdon, Detroit's new President of Basketball Operations?
Like Williams, Langdon was a former NBA player. Langdon was selected in the first round (11th overall) of the 1999 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He also played four years in college for Duke and was a former teammate of the likes of Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, and Shane Battier. However, Langdon suited up for only three seasons in the NBA before taking his talents to Europe where he continued his professional career.
Langdon's non-playing career in the NBA started when he became a scout for the San Antonio Spurs before becoming an assistant general manager for the Brooklyn Nets. In 2019, Langdon was hired by the New Orleans Pelicans as general manager.
