Hard as it might be to believe, former Phoenix Suns' head coach Monty Williams might just have been the best leading man the franchise has had since Jordan Ott joined last offseason.
His four year stint including a run to the NBA Finals, while he was forced to try and win with some duds at the back end of his rotation. Williams is thought of as a bit of a laughing stock these days after his disastrous time with the Detroit Pistons, but it wasn't all bad.
Williams was a big believer in Landry Shamet before the rest of the NBA
In the wake of the New York Knicks finally winning it all after 57 years, Williams can do a victory lap regarding Landry Shamet as well. His two seasons in The Valley under Williams as successful as his career had been up until an unexpected showing in the finals.
Their head coach Mike Brown trusted him to make big shots in pressure moments, and he was a firm fixture in their postseason rotation. His 13 points in a whopping 33 minutes of action in Game 1 propped their bench up as they won the first game on the road, and he chipped in a couple of huge buckets in the clinching game.
He had a drive to the basket in the second half that looked like it resulted in a nasty injury that forced the 29-year-old back to the locker-room, but he returned to the bench and back onto the court near the end of the game.
The big improvement Shamet has made since Williams coached him has been how he doesn't get picked on defensively anymore. He is also incredibly vocal in attempting to blow up opponent's plays and signal when he is being switched onto a player who he is unlikely to be able to contain.
Williams saw all of this before the rest of the league, while the 3-point shooting has always been there.
It's not that the Suns were wrong to let him go, it was time for both sides to part, but the former head coach can at least say he knew what he was talking about when building out a rotation capable of challenging for a championship around Devin Booker.
He also was at the helm when Deandre Ayton was at his most productive for the organization, which is also reason to brag. Mikal Bridges might always be the Suns' favorite former child, but Shamet is getting his flowers and Williams is now vindicated.
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