The Toronto Raptors might need to put all of their coaching plans on hold until they get a chance to sit down with former Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams. Who would have thought that he would end up being available at this point in the season after winning Coach of the Year so recently?
Williams was canned after his Suns were knocked out of the postseason picture by the Denver Nuggets. After trading for Kevin Durant, it looks like owner Mat Ishbia was intent on competing for a championship, and anything below winning it was deemed a failure.
The Raptors have already been linked to Williams, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. While coaches like Jordi Fernandez and David Adelman have already stated their claim for one of the 30 best jobs in the basketball world, Williams is operating on a completely different plane.
The Raptors would be complete fools if they looked at the current coaching market and chose not to bring Williams into the fold. The Raptors won’t get many chances to hire a head coach, and Williams could be one of the few names out there who could lock the position down for a long time.
3 reasons the Toronto Raptors must hire Monty Williams.
3. Postseason success
While Williams’ history with the Hornets led to just two playoff wins, he was often not handed tons of deep teams and had to lean on the brilliance of a young Chris Paul. The Suns were a laughingstock before Williams became the coach, and he helped turn them around quickly.
Williams, who won just under 63% of his games as the coach of the Suns, went 27-19 in the postseason, winning five playoff series in the last three years. In that same span (with Kawhi Leonard, mind you), Nick Nurse has won as many series as you and I combined.
Monty Williams will help the Toronto Raptors win in the playoffs.
While he did have a great team at his disposal, elements of that great team were banging their head against a wall, trying to escape the lottery before he came to town. While Budenholzer has a ring, his history of underperforming with a much more talented team might be held against him.
Williams’ firing was a genuine surprise, as there aren’t many coaches that have performed as consistently excellent as he has in the last few seasons. Would a neophyte coach be that skilled when push comes to shove in the postseason picture?
2. Player relations
Williams has been in both penny-pinching situations where he had to get the most out of a young roster and on a contending team making aggressive win-now moves. His success in both roles should make him an ideal candidate for a Raptors team trying to combine two different philosophies.
Williams helped Paul develop into an All-Time great, made Devin Booker one of the best in the game at his position, and had the Suns humming when Durant was in the lineup. Toronto has stars to maximize, like Pascal Siakam, but they also need to develop dynamite youngsters like Scottie Barnes. Hiring Williams helps both of them.
Monty Williams will help Toronto Raptors players like Scottie Barnes.
Williams has received some strong endorsements from names like Booker, and his play has ticked up since Williams was hired. Imagine Barnes or Fred VanVleet getting the same sort of bump in a Williams scheme. Nurse clearly faltered when it came to making sure all of his stars were satisfied.
Williams seemed to be doing a fairly good job of accomplishing his intersecting goals of player development and winning games this season, though the poor performance in the Denver series prompted what might be considered an overreaction by new ownership. Williams could instead bring his tried and true methods to a Toronto team in need of the structure and relationship-building he has mastered.
1. Handling crisis
Not all is well in Toronto right now, as several big-name players need big contracts and the vibes around the team are unquestionably off. Can you imagine getting your first job, having to learn on the fly, and dealing with all of those problems? Williams’ experience will come in handy.
Not only did Williams have to keep the team unified and motivated amid the Robert Sarver mess, change in ownership, and the Durant trade that flipped the entire roster over, but he did so while continuously winning games and setting the tone for a successful culture.
Monty Williams will be a leader for the Toronto Raptors.
Williams has the acumen needed to handle a roster that has been accused by their own executive of selfishness, putting each player in a position to succeed, and getting them to buy into his vision. Even the most disengaged Raptors fan could see that Nick Nurse’s overtures near the end of the season fell on deaf ears.
Williams has been to the Finals and has a Coach of the Year on his resume. While his record in elimination games is sketchy at best, his time with the Suns shows that he can take any situation and raise the floor to the point where Toronto should expect a postseason berth.