JB Bickerstaff has agreed to a five-year contract to become the next head coach of the Detroit Pistons, sources told ESPN on Sunday.
Bickerstaff emerged from a field of several candidates to land the job under new President of Basketball Operations Trajan Langdon. Bickerstaff has guided the Cleveland Cavaliers through a rebuild, winning 99 regular season games over the past two seasons. He led Cleveland to the Eastern Conference playoffs in consecutive years, including a berth in the conference semifinals this year. The Cavaliers fired Bickerstaff after the season and hired Kenny Atkinson.
Bickerstaff will be the Pistons’ fourth head coach, following stints in Houston, Memphis and Cleveland. Detroit fired coach Monty Williams after a league-worst 14-68 season in the first year of a six-year, $78.5 million contract. Owners also let go of general manager Troy Weaver, bringing in Langdon, who has charted a deliberate rebuild that should fit well with Bickerstaff’s experience with the Cavaliers.
Langdon has been aggressive in gathering management and coaching talent in recent weeks, hiring Mike Blackstone and Dennis Lindsey into his management and now moving quickly to bring in Bickerstaff from a field that included Dallas Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney, who made an impression in the process, sources said.
The Pistons hope to sign 2021 No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham to a long-term deal on his rookie extension and are prioritizing using their salary cap space to take on veteran contracts that will be tied to future draft picks.
After replacing John Beilein as interim coach in 2020, Bickerstaff was 170-159 (.517) in five seasons with the Cavaliers. Cleveland was the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with a 48-34 record this season, defeating the Orlando Magic in the first round of the playoffs.
Boston beat Cleveland 4-1 in the conference semifinals, in which the Cavs were without center Jarrett Allen and All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell missed the final two games with a calf injury.
