Rumors

The son of former NBA coach Monty Williams has committed to play college basketball at Baylor University, according to several reports. Four-star TMI Episcopal guard Elijah Williams, who plays for his father, committed to Baylor on Tuesday afternoon.

KSAT.com

Elijah Williams, the son of former NBA head coach Monty Williams, committed to Baylor on Wednesday. Williams is ranked No. 40 in ESPN's 100 for the class of 2026. "The attention the whole staff gave me, especially head coach Scott Drew," said Williams of why he picked Baylor. "The calls and texts were very consistent. The belief they have in me made a big difference."

RealGM

I mean, look, the one kind of thing that is circulated about the Suns' coaching search that I think people are in agreement on is this: the Suns' last two coaches — and really three if you count Monty Williams — they've all been veteran coaches. All the chatter in league coaching circles is they want to go away from that — that they would rather go with younger candidates. Numerous ex-players are included in that thinking. But certainly, if the Suns want to make a significant change to their front office — whether it's bringing in someone new to take over completely, or whether it's adding to their current front office setup — whoever that is is going to naturally want a strong say on who the next coach is."

YouTube

Sacramento Kings forward Jae Crowder responded to a question Wednesday on X, formerly known as Twitter, in addressing why he didn't play his final season with the Phoenix Suns in 2022-23. Crowder was asked if it was over a "conflict" with former Suns coach Monty Williams and if he still wouldn't have been in Phoenix if that wasn't the case. In all caps, Crowder quoted the tweet and wrote, "THAT TRU AND ONE DAY I OWE TO THE FANS TO EXPLAIN I NEVER WANTED TO LEAVE AND THEY ASKED ME TO STAY HOME WHILE THEY TRADE ME. ITS A REASON MY TEAMMATES NEVER GOT MAD OR TALKED DOWN ON ME TO THE MEDIA. BC WE ALL WANTED ANOTHER SHOT AT FINISHING WHAT WE HAD STARTED."

Arizona Republic

Jae Crowder: THAT TRU AND ONE DAY I OWE TO THE FANS TO EXPLAIN I NEVER WANTED TO LEAVE AND THEY ASKED ME TO STAY HOME WHILE THEY TRADE ME. ITS A REASON MY TEAMMATES NEVER GOT MAD OR TALKED DOWN ON ME TO THE MEDIA. BC WE ALL WANTED ANOTHER SHOT AT FINISHING WHAT WE HAD STARTED. ValleyGotNext: Jae is it true you left from conflict with monty? You still would have been here

x.com

You played for Monty Williams and Dwane Casey. What were they like as coaches? Killian Hayes: Very tactical, especially for Monty. I feel like his offensive arsenal was really deep coming in. Just being able to watch that and just seeing how deep his bag is offensively for sure. And Coach Casey, because I started with and just had a great relationship with Coach Casey.

HoopsHype

Michael Grange: Monte Williams was sitting Jaden Ivey this time last yr right? Raps lose at 102-100 at horn as Ivey makes tough lay-up over Ochai Agbaji. Raps fall to 4-14 & have yet to win on road, while Detroit improves to 8-11. Barnes w/ 31 but Raps went cold in 4th. Ivey w/ 25 for Detroit.

Twitter

JB Bickerstaff became the first coach to take a Cleveland Cavaliers team that didn’t have LeBron James to the second round in more than 30 years and he, too, got fired. Bickerstaff ended up with Detroit. The Pistons had fired Monty Williams after one season — with five years and something like $65 million left on his contract. Williams now will coach his sons at a high school in San Antonio. “You just keep doing the job you’re supposed to do,” Bickerstaff said. He could have added “for as long as you have it,” because in the NBA, who knows what’ll happen next.

Associated Press

Chris Haynes: Sources: Former Pelicans, Suns, Pistons coach Monty Williams has accepted the head coaching job at TMI Episcopal prep school in San Antonio where he will coach his son Elijah.

x.com

When Tyrese Haliburton was shockingly traded to the Indiana Pacers in February 2022, then-Suns head coach Monty Williams was asked about him and revealed Phoenix was focused on drafting Haliburton at the time but “couldn’t” get him in the draft even though he was on the board for the Suns. Haliburton denied that being the case.

Arizona's Sports Page

“No, that’s incorrect,” Haliburton told Arizona Sports. “That’s definitely not the case. I was open to going anywhere that wasn’t those two teams. And any team that didn’t pick me, I don’t know.” Those two teams are the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Arizona's Sports Page

The Pistons will be Bickerstaff's fourth head-coaching job, including stops in Houston, Memphis and Cleveland. Detroit fired coach Monty Williams after a league-worst 14-68 season, his first year in a six-year, $78.5 million contract. Ownership also moved on from general manager Troy Weaver, bringing on Langdon, who has charted a course for a deliberate rebuild that is expected to fit well with Bickerstaff's experience with the Cavaliers.

ESPN

Per team sources, there were a lot of back-and-forth discussions over the last few weeks at the top level of Detroit’s organization about whether Williams should come back.

New York Times

James Edwards III: Gores: "I do appreciate Troy Weaver. He had the courage to restructure and we have cap room. I want to think Monty and his family for coming to Detroit and taking a chance on us. "The decision was to get a fresh start and move forward, given we have a lot of pain."

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