The Detroit Pistons are finalizing a deal with former Cleveland Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff to be their next head coach, just a week after firing Monty Williams one year into one of the largest contracts in NBA coaching history, team sources tell The Athletic. The deal is for four seasons, those sources said.
Cleveland got less than 60 games from Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley and still ended up winning 48 games during the regular season and made it to the second round of the NBA playoffs. The Cavaliers made it to the postseason in two straight years under Bickerstaff and have won 44-plus games in each of the last three years.
Detroit hires Bickerstaff to replace Williams, who, after signing a lucrative deal, coached the Pistons to a franchise-worst 14-68 record, which included a historic 28-game losing streak. The Pistons hired Trajan Langdon to be the franchise’s president of basketball operations earlier this month, and since taking over, Langdon has revamped Detroit’s front office, fired a coach and has now hired a new one.
For Detroit, the goal this offseason was to have complete synergy from the top down after such a disastrous season. Per team sources, Bickerstaff was atop Langdon’s list throughout the process, as the Pistons president was looking for someone with experience, leadership skills and the ability to mold young players into a cohesive team. Bickerstaff was who checked all of those boxes, per team sources.
Former Pistons assistant and current Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney was the other finalist for the vacancy.
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