The Detroit Pistons will hire J.B. Bickerstaff as their new head coach, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Bickerstaff, who was fired by the Cleveland Cavaliers in May after being eliminated from the playoffs in the second round, will be the third coach in three seasons for the Pistons.
Hiring Bickerstaff is the latest move in what has been a busy offseason for the Pistons. In May, the franchise announced that Trajan Langdon would be the team's new president of basketball operations, then parted ways with long-term general manager Troy Weaver a day later.
A few weeks after settling their front office situation, the Pistons fired head coach Monty Williams, who had signed a record-setting six-year, $78.5 million deal in 2023 and lasted just one season.
Bickerstaff will now be tasked with taking over a rebuild that has been going on for much longer than anyone in Detroit anticipated. The team has not made the playoffs since 2019, and has won more than 20 games just once in the five seasons since then. They are coming off a disastrous 14-68 campaign, which saw them win the fewest games in a season in franchise history -- even dating back to their days as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in the NBL, when they were playing less than 25 games a season -- and lose an NBA-record-setting 28 games in a row.
But for all the losing, there is some young talent to work with in Detroit. Former No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham is coming off a career-year, and has the offensive creation skills to be a franchise cornerstone. Fellow lottery picks such as Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson have all shown impressive flashes, and they added Ron Holland with the No. 5 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft last week.
Just how good this group can be remains to be seen, but they should certainly be better than they were last season under Williams. Bickerstaff eventually ran his course in Cleveland, but he proved during his five years there that he could help a young team improve. The Pistons are hoping he can do the same for their group.
