Pistons are hiring J.B. Bickerstaff as new head coach

DETROIT — More pieces are falling into place for the Detroit Pistons in their remolding of the front office and coaching ranks.

The Pistons are hiring J.B. Bickerstaff as the franchise’s next coach, a league source confirmed to The Detroit News on Sunday. It's a five-year deal, with four years guaranteed.

Bickerstaff, 45, spent the last four-plus seasons coaching the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he remade the franchise into a contender, compiling a record of 170-159, including a 48-34 record this season and playoff trips in the past two years. With a core of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, the Cavs reached the Eastern Conference semifinals, beating the Orlando Magic in seven games before falling to the eventual-champion Boston Celtics in five games.

The Cavs last week hired Kenny Atkinson as their new coach.

Bickerstaff also was the head coach for the Houston Rockets in 2015-16, going 37-34, after taking over for Kevin McHale after 11 games. Bickerstaff moved to a struggling Memphis Grizzlies squad as an associate head coach and became head coach after David Fizdale's departure, going 48-97 in a short tenure. He then moved to the Cavs as an associate head coach, where he took over as head coach for former Michigan head coach John Beilein, following a 14-40 start. Bickerstaff finished that season 5-6.

The Pistons are coming off a miserable season with the NBA's worst record, going 14-68, including a record-tying 28-game losing streak. They fired head coach Monty Williams after just one season of his record six-year deal worth more than $78 million, absorbing about $65 million because of the quick parting. They also hired Trajan Langdon as the new team president in May and moved on from general manager Troy Weaver.

In the past month, they've added Dennis Lindsey as the senior vice president of basketball operations and Michael Blackstone and J.R. Holden in key front-office positions, along with noted shooting coach Fred Vinson as an assistant coach.

Bickerstaff, though, is a key addition as head coach, as he brings coaching experience, having been at the helm for rebuilds in many of his previous stops, along with player-development expertise. That was one of the key characteristics that team owner Tom Gores and Langdon were seeking in a new head coach.

"Tom has talked about leadership — that's incredibly important, finding a man that can lead this team going forward and is aligned with us, is aligned with Tom as long as myself and my front office, on how we want to execute going forward and how we want to build this organization," Langdon said this month. "I think somebody who is a really good communicator is important, somebody who is a good collaborator is important.

"And I don't just mean with the front office, I mean with the performance teams, I mean with our nutritionist, with our mental skills coach, there has to be collaboration throughout this organization at all times so we're aligned. And I think somebody who is really good, into development and is passionate about it. We talked about our young players as our young core and they're good young men but they're talented so we have to have somebody who has patience but also has the desire to develop these young players and not skip steps so those are some of the qualities that we're looking for."

That background in improving young players will be critical in the Pistons' path forward, as many of the key players on the roster currently are under the age of 24, including Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson and Isaiah Stewart.

"Something Trajan and I've talked about is I think just developing the players. I think that's really important. We have an amazing young core group of players. And of course, we want sustainability. But it starts with us," Gores said. "I think we should be demanding on whoever the next coach is and so on and choose what we want to accomplish. And as much as we want to win, we want to develop these young players ..."

The timing of the hiring is critical, as well, with the window for free agency opening Sunday, when teams are able to negotiate with free agents. On Saturday, free agents can begin signing officially with teams, which will be a critical period for the Pistons, as Langdon has indicated they will pursue options to improve the roster in free agency.

The NBA Summer League begins on July 12 in Las Vegas, and Bickerstaff's new coaching staff can begin working with some of the young players, including first-round pick Ron Holland.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski was first to report the hiring.

____