Not even a full calendar year has passed since the Pistons gave Monty Williams a record-setting contract. It just feels like an eternity given how grim everything has been since.

That historic pay date preceded a historic losing streak, and the competitiveness has hardly perked up since. While that's an indictment of this roster (and the front office that assembled it), Williams' fingerprints are evident on these failures, too.

His rotations have baffled regular observers. He'll go deep into his bench and trot out all-reserve units that are routinely run off the floor. Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, the team's top two playmakers, have been mostly healthy this season, and Detroit has still run more than 1,500 possessions without either one, losing them by a disastrous 13.8 points per 100 possessions.

"Staggering the two guards has been a frequent topic this season," Omari Sankofa II noted for the Detroit Free Press, "and remains a potential solution to the second unit's woes, at least offensively."

Williams has struggled to get a grasp of this roster and how to utilize it, which is worrisome for a lot of reasons, not least of which is the fact that several of these young players are ostensibly intended to guide Detroit out of its rebuild.

If the 52-year-old can't pull the right strings with Cunningham, Ivey, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren now, why should Detroit's decision-makers expect that to change in the future?

Maybe they don't. Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer recently reported there is "ongoing speculation among rival front offices about a potential change atop Detroit's organizational chart following the Pistons' strugglesome campaign."

While Fischer added there is "no expectation" Williams "would be open to any buyout," Detroit could still opt to cut its financial losses and focus on finding someone who can take this team to more promising places than Williams has.

Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on X, @ZachBuckleyNBA.