Pistons nearing deal to make JB Bickerstaff next head coach: sources

The Detroit Pistons are finalizing a deal with former Cleveland Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff to become their next head coach, just a week after firing Monty Williams for one of the largest contracts in NBA coaching history for a year, team sources say. The Athletics. The deal is for four seasons, these sources said.

Cleveland got fewer than 60 games from Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley and still won 48 games during the regular season and reached the second round of the NBA playoffs. The Cavaliers reached the postseason in two consecutive years under Bickerstaff and have won 44+ 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, including a historic 28-game losing streak. The Pistons hired Trajan Langdon as 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 now hired a new one.

For Detroit, the goal this season was to achieve complete synergy from the top down after such a disastrous season. According to team sources, Bickerstaff was at the top of 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 the one who checked all those boxes, per team source.

Former Pistons assistant and current Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney was the other finalist for the vacancy.

Required reading

(Photo: Jason Miller/Getty Images)