Coach Monty Williams, Pistons agree to $78.5M deal

June 1 (UPI) -- Monty Williams agreed to a six-year, $78.5 million deal to coach the Detroit Pistons. The pact is the largest given to a coach in the history of the NBA.

Sources told ESPN, The Athletic and Yahoo Sports about the agreement Thursday night. The contract includes options for the 2029-30 and 2030-31 campaigns.

Former Pistons coach Dwane Casey announced he would step down from the role in April after a 17-65 campaign in 2022-23.

The Phoenix Suns fired Williams, the 2021-22 Coach of the Year, in May. Williams led the Suns to a 45-37 record in 2022-23. The Suns, who acquired star forward Kevin Durant in a February trade, lost to the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the playoffs.

Williams went 194-115 in the regular season and 27-19 in the playoffs in four years as Suns coach. He led the Suns to a Western Conference title in 2021.

He posted a 173-222 regular-season record and 2-8 postseason mark in five years as coach of the New Orleans Pelicans. Williams, 51, previously served as an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Portland Trail Blazers.

The Pistons hired Casey in 2018. He went 41-41 in his first season. The Pistons went 20-46 in 2019-20. They went 20-52 in 2020-21 and 23-59 in 2021-22. Detroit went to the playoffs just twice since 2008-09.