Monty Williams’ contract changed the salary structure
When Monty Williams signed his record six-year $78.5M Pistons deal in June, which is worth around $13 million each year. He was overtaken by Erik Spoelstra ($15M a year), Gregg Popovich ($16m per year) along with Steve Kerr ($17.5M a year).
By Tom Friend
David Berding/Getty Images
Monty Williams, removed today as director of football for the Pistons only 13 months after he was fired by the Suns and has received a total of $85M in buyouts, and also a personal thanks from the coaching community.
When Williams had signed his record-setting six-year $78.5M contract in June last year in the Pistons that was worth about $13 million per year He was soon surpassed with the Miami’s Erik Spoelstra($15M annually) and The Spurs’ Gregg Popovich($16M annually) as well as Steve Kerr, the Warriors’ Steve Kerr($17.5M per year). “His contract was the benchmark for that was set,” according to an NBA agent who today asked to remain secret.
According to reports, Williams’ climb up the ladder of coaching contracts was an outlier. The Suns fired him from the Suns in May 2023, due to his failures in the playoffs (the Suns lost a 2-0 leading in 2021’s NBA Finals), Williams appeared happy to wait a for a year or more at home with his children in Phoenix. However, the Pistons paid Williams “more in order to lure his retirement out of the way the sources told us.
He recorded a record of 14-68 during his single season in Detroit and the loss of 28 games, and his record for the entire season is at 381-404.
The buyout he received in Phoenix was $20M. the contract renewal with the Pistons is for $65 million – raising eyebrows across the league. Eddie Johnson, the former NBAer who is now a broadcaster for the Suns posted today the website X: “This is a mystery absolutely! If you’re Monty Williams and you woke up to the announcement. Are you angry or feeling like you’ve just got this Power Ball. This is not real.”
The outcome of the market for coaches isn’t clear. Mike Budenholzer, the coach who beat Williams at the 2021 NBA Finals while with the Bucks and signed an annual contract of $10M with the Suns which ranks sixth within the league. University of Connecticut’s Danny Hurleylater declined an offer from the Lakers offer which was said to be valued at $11.6M annually, which is also lower than Williams the contract.
Sources believe that Williams’ dismissal may result in a continuing gradual leveling off of contracts at the very least, in the short-term. “It will happen until it doesn’t be able to,” the agent told reporters.
