76ers’ Monty Williams Named Suns New Head Coach on Reported 5-Year Contract

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Monty Williams is a head coach again, as the Phoenix Suns officially hired him on Friday.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Williams has agreed to a five-year deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Williams is currently an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers. Prior to joining Philadelphia, he worked as the San Antonio Spurs‘ vice president of basketball operations. Before that, he was an associate head coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2015-16.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported Williams will remain with the 76ers until the end of their playoff run.

At the only head coaching stop of his career to date, Williams compiled a 173-221 record in five seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, helping the franchise reach the NBA playoffs in 2011 and 2015. The Pelicans were eliminated in the first round on both occasions.

His record is somewhat deceiving, though, as New Orleans underwent a significant change a year after he arrived. Then the New Orleans Hornets, they traded Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Clippers in December 2011.

That deal effectively started a full-scale rebuild. Even after New Orleans selected Anthony Davis first overall in the 2012 draft, turning the team into a playoff contender in the Western Conference was a years-long process.

Williams showed off his coaching acumen when he helped lead the Pelicans to 45 victories in 2014-15. The team fired him after that season, and it was three years before New Orleans returned to the postseason and eclipsed that win total.

Player relations were an area of strength for Williams as well.

“He’s almost like a father figure in some ways,” said Los Angeles Clippers guard Landry Shamet, who played briefly for Williams in Philadelphia, per Brian Seltzer of the Sixers’ official site. “He’s just very good at keeping me sane, and even-keeled.”

Of course, the Pelicans still had their issues under Williams, namely on defense. The Hornets were ninth in defensive rating (102.5) in 2010-11 and ranked 16th (102.3), 28th (107.6), 25th (107.3) and 22nd (104.7) over the next four seasons, according to NBA.com.

New Orleans never finished higher than 22nd in three-pointers per game, either, so he’ll need to adapt his approach to cater more to the NBA’s emphasis on spacing the floor.

While Williams isn’t the kind of home-run hire that will receive universal praise in Phoenix, he’s a sensible replacement for Igor Kokoskov. He helped lead the Pelicans through a transitional phase and left them in a far better place than they had been following the Paul trade.

The allure of the Suns is obvious.

Devin Booker only turns 23 in October and is under contract through the 2023-24 season. Luka Doncic and Trae Young overshadowed Deandre Ayton this season, but the No. 1 overall pick still averaged a solid 16.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 0.9 blocks.

Phoenix will have another talented young player coming through the 2019 draft as well. The team owns the best odds of landing the No. 1 draft pick (14 percent) along with the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks.

But you have to balance that against the general dysfunction that has plagued the franchise under owner Robert Sarver. Since Mike D’Antoni’s departure in 2008, Phoenix has hired five different head coaches. Kokoskov lasted only one season before the Suns moved on.

Williams might prove to be a great fit for the Suns’ young roster, but the organization’s problems start at the top. Until Sarver takes steps to address his handling of the team, building any confidence in Phoenix’s long-term direction is tough.