Monty Williams was fired by the Suns after Phoenix lost to the Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals. Here's why they were right to do it.
According to reports, the Suns have fired Monty Williams. Saying someone should lose their job is not the right thing to do. Still sports are an entertainment business that has had an economic boom in the last decade in some part due to wondering about job security for the head coaches in this world.
While Williams will have to relocate, I am sure he will be able to land on coaching staff soon. He may even be able to get another head coaching job this offseason. Therefore, I feel like this piece still isn't wrong to do.
As Suns' Twitter noted a lot during the season, Williams's rotations were downright horrible. He deserved to be fired.
Monty Williams' rotations with the Suns were his downfall
The Suns played Landry Shamet way too much during the postseason and refused to play Terrance Ross for more minutes along with Jock Landale, who didn't get enough minutes in the postseason either.
Finally, Williams seemed like he was unable to get the most out of Deandre Ayton's talent during his time with the Suns. Ayton is most likely to be traded this offseason due to this fact.
It was clear Willams was not able to run the right players as the Suns had to rely on Devin Booker and Kevin Durant to play hero ball for the entire game.
Great coaches can handle a few minutes with so-so returns on offense. They might end up losing that section of minutes by a couple of points but they are able to get by. It was clear that the Suns were not able to do that. They had a real question about depth, especially when Chris Paul went out mid-series.
Still, Williams could have found a way to get by while giving small amounts of rest to Booker and Durant. To excel in their offseason goals, the Suns absolutely had to be able to do that.
I really doubt that Williams was able to make sure he knew who had the hot night/matchup off the bench.
He helped take the Suns to their first NBA Finals in years and helped build a culture good enough to attract Kevin Durant to come to this team via trade.
Still, it is time for someone new who is better at picking the right players to play in the rotation with Durant and Booker. Phoenix is hoping that going forward they will be able to find someone more suitable for that role.
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