J.B. Bickerstaff will be the Pistons‘ next head coach, agreeing to a five-year contract with the team, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). The first four seasons of the deal will be guaranteed, tweets James L. Edwards of The Athletic.
The 45-year-old coach lands his next job just weeks after being fired in Cleveland. He inherits a talented young roster, much like the one he had when he took over the Cavaliers in 2020.
Bickerstaff was one of three candidates who reportedly interviewed for the position in Detroit, as our head coaching search tracker shows. The competition thinned out on Friday when Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego opted to pull his name out of the search and remain in New Orleans.
Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney was the other finalist for the job, according to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
The Pistons are looking for a new direction after a disastrous season under Monty Williams, who guided them to a franchise-worst 14-68 record before being dismissed earlier this month. New head of basketball operations Trajan Langdon made the decision to fire Williams, who still had five seasons remaining on his six-year, $78.5MM contract, along with general manager Troy Weaver.
The mission to turn the franchise around now belongs to Bickerstaff, who led the Cavs to playoff appearances in the past two seasons. He compiled a 170-159 record in four-plus years in Cleveland, but players reportedly expressed doubts behind the scenes about his “strategies, game management, practice habits and accountability measures.”
Bickerstaff, the son of longtime NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff, broke into the league in 2004 as an assistant with Charlotte. He moved onto assistant jobs in Minnesota and Houston, then was promoted to head coach of the Rockets early in the 2015/16 season. He wasn’t brought back despite posting a 37-34 record and reaching the playoffs. He moved onto Memphis as an assistant and later became head coach, compiling a 48-97 record.
Bickerstaff will be expected to build a winning team around Cade Cunningham, something the franchise has been unable to do since he was the overall No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft. The new coach will have a roster filled with recent lottery picks, including Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson and this year’s first-round selection Ron Holland. The Pistons also have more than $58MM in cap room, allowing them to be aggressive when free agency gets underway this evening.
JB is a good enough coach, don’t think he got a fair shot at the end with the Cavs. They had injuries, but he was able to get them to compete.
That didn’t take long. Good luck with that roster though!
Hmmm idk how to feel but I am not the biggest fan of this move
I have always said I like Pistons talent. They could use an adjustment for better chemistry. I would have brought in Atkinson. I also would have talked to McMillan.
I wish JB the best . Detroit needs a good team ……. A big trade and good FA signing. Can get this team competing again.
Atkinson wasn’t doing a rebuild. We have seen that in his last 2 years of interviews, he accepted and backed out of the Hornets.
If JB does not work they have another coach under contract who could step in.
that is a good one… They should have given Monty Williams another position… call it anything. That way let him find another job and when he finds it they no longer have to pay him… BUT these owners have way too much money to throw away..
That is so wrong to say, but true.
Another failure
How many of his guaranteed money is covered by Cavs? I would like to see more transparentcy with head coaches’ contracts.
The last time the Pistons hired a head coach who had been fired by the Cavaliers, it worked out pretty good for them. That coach was Chuck Daly so I’m rooting for Deja Vu all over again!
“but players reportedly expressed doubts behind the scenes about his “strategies, game management, practice habits and accountability measures.”
Hmm. So what is he good at? Press conferences?
He will win more than most who took this job. We will be pulling for Bernie! Langdon will be a successful Gm too.