Stephen Silas ‘agrees to join the Detroit Pistons and Monty Williams as lead assistant coach’

Former Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas has agreed to become Detroit assistant coach along with newly hired Pistons head coach Monty Williams.

In April, Houston declined Silas’ 2023-2024 option, ending his three-year tenure with a 59-177 record.

The Rockets then hired former Celtics head coach Ime Udoka to replace Silas, who could raid the Boston staff to reunite the coach with his former assistants.

Williams agreed to a deal last week that gave him the richest contract ever for an NBA head coach in the form of a six-year, $78.5 million deal, with team options and renewals that would take it north of $100 million. can push.

Silas, 49, was previously a top assistant at Dallas, Charlotte and Golden State.

Monty Williams and the Pistons agreed to the largest contract ever given to an NBA coach

It remains to be seen who else will add Williams to his coaching staff, but considering he’s become one of the most respected coaches in the league since he was first appointed assistant coach in 2005, Williams wouldn’t lack of options to choose from.

Williams, 51, took over the Suns four years ago in 2019 and had transformed the organization into the winningest franchise in the league over the past three seasons.

He also led the Suns to an NBA Finals appearance in 2021 and was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2022.

Williams had initially told interested teams—including the Pistons—that he intended to take a year off from coaching before finally being convinced to take on one of the NBA’s most challenging rebuilding projects. He is also still owed about $21 million over the next three years by Phoenix.

Detroit finished last season with an abysmal 17-65 record, placing them in last place in the Central division for the third straight season and failing to qualify for the postseason in the last four years.

For five years under former head coach Dwayne Casey, the team compiled an overall record of 121-263. The 2019 playoff appearance was only the franchise’s second since 2010. Casey resigned at the end of the 2022–23 season.

Cade Cunningham(L) and Jaden Ivey(R) will star in Williams’ rebuilding

Detroit also has the No. 5 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft after another poor season

Despite their seemingly ever-present home in the NBA’s basement over the course of nearly the last decade and a half, the Pistons currently have several promising building blocks for their new record-breaking coach, as well as Silas who comes from a Rockets team that was filled with young players.

Jaden Ivey, ranked No. 5 in 2022, had a solid rookie season averaging 16.3 points and 5.2 assists, while Killian Hayes, Jalen Duren, Isiah Stewart and James Wiseman all showed flashes of potential.

All of the aforementioned names except Stewart were also lottery picks in the NBA Draft and came into the league with a lot of promise.

However, the key building block for Detroit remains the franchise’s centerpiece and 2021 No. 1 overall pick, Cade Cunningham, who was limited to just 12 games last season after suffering a broken leg.

Before suffering the season-ending injury, Cunningham was on track to improve his impressive season average as he had recorded 9.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game.