Let me start with a question: Do you know who the highest-paid manager is this season?
The answer is: Spurs, Popovich, $16 million.
What about the second-highest-paid manager?
The answer is: Pistons, Monty Williams. $12 million.
These are also the only two head coaches in the league with an annual salary of more than 10 million. However, the Wolong Phoenix in the coaching world likes to mention the bottom record in the East and West of the league, with the Spurs winning 3-16 and the Pistons winning 2-18. The Pistons went without a win throughout November.
But just 2 years ago, the Suns, also led by Monty, did not taste defeat in November. Probably looking at Monty's success with the Suns, the Pistons spent 6 years and 72 million to sign the coach this summer. Motor City missed the playoffs for four consecutive years and won just 17 games last season. It's like the city of Detroit, which was once the richest city in the United States, the center of the United States, but now it is bankrupt. So, the Pistons really want to start with basketball and achieve revitalization.
It's just that the heavens don't fulfill people's wishes. After the Pistons started the game with a strong 2-1 record, they immediately reaped a wave of 17 consecutive losses. Looking at the Pistons' schedule, if they can't win the Grizzlies at home in the next game, then this losing streak will be 25+ bottom.
Is Monty to blame?Actually, I think he is quite wronged. The Pistons are the youngest team in the NBA this season, averaging 229 years old. If you're not a post-00s, you're embarrassed to say you're a Pistons player.
So, Monty also has something to say. Who are the Suns I used to bring, Booker, Durant, Paul, who are you giving me now, they don't have this ability. I didn't want to come to the Pistons, but the problem is that they give too much.
The Pistons' game was very fascinating, obviously sometimes they played very closely, and even took the lead, and then suddenly a wave of commotion operations collapsed. Last season had a 20% win rate, and this season it has 2 wins and 18 losses, a 10% win rate. At this rate, you can win 8 games in a season. It seems that the 76ers set the worst record of 9 wins and 73 losses that year, and there are still challengers. Even if he can win 10 games and Monty wins, the Pistons will have to give him 1.2 million, which is really easy to earn.
However, is it possible that the Pistons are actually strategically giving up this season in order to get a better draft pick?That's what they thought last season, but the worst record in the league was only a fifth pick, and the luck was a bit bad. Even, the Pistons just want to challenge fate again: a kind of let me draw a fifth pick?Look at the two rises of the Thunder, both relying on the draft. So if you can really choose a Sarr to partner with Cunningham, it may not be far from turning over.
Most probably, the Spurs also think so. Wembanyama is not Duncan, and he can't let the Spurs take off on the spot, so he just rots for a few years, sets up the team, and then thinks about winning the championship. Just doing so, it's easy to bet on Popovich's previous honors. But the good thing is that there is also the presence of Monty, and the Spurs are not the worst team in the league.
So, I was eager to see what would happen when the Pistons met the Spurs