Pistons' J.B. Bickerstaff getting last laugh on his old team

After he brought the team back to respectability, the Cleveland Cavaliers fired their old coach J.B. Bickerstaff in 2024. Since then, he's turned the Detroit Pistons around, who are still 21-6 after a last-second overtime loss to the Dallas Mavericks Thursday, 116-114. They're leading the Eastern Conference, while the Cavs have lost seven of their last 10 games.

Bickerstaff won 170 games with the Cavaliers after taking over as head coach in 2020, losing his job after the Boston Celtics defeated them in the second round of the playoffs in five games. Cleveland won 64 under new coach Kenny Atkinson last season, but the season ended the same way: a five-game loss in the second round.

J.B. Bickerstaff has been unappreciated in his coaching career

The 46-year-old Bickerstaff got his first head-coaching opportunity in the 2015-16 season, when the Houston Rockets dismissed Kevin McHale after a 4-7 start. He went 37-34 and got the Rockets to the playoffs, before they replaced him with Mike D'Antoni the next season.

Bickerstaff moved on to the Memphis Grizzlies, where he took over for the fired David Fizdale in 2017. It was a tough gig. The Grizzlies' second-highest-paid player, Chandler Parsons, played only 36 games, and their second-best player, Mike Conley, played only 12. During 2018-19, Bickerstaff's only full season with the Grizzlies, they traded franchise icon Marc Gasol at midseason.

After John Beilein resigned in 2020, Bickerstaff took over a 14-40 team and went 5-6. Two seasons, they were 44-38 and had the NBA's No. 7 defense and went on to win 99 games over the next two seasons. Bickerstaff helped develop Darius Garland and Evan Mobley into All-Stars, got the Cavs their first playoff series win in the post-LeBron James era and got unceremoniously fired for his trouble.

Defense has been a hallmark of J.B. Bickerstaff teams

Young coaches often end up in situations like Bickerstaff, where the first opportunities come as interim, midseason replacements. That means that the team's season is already going badly when they take over. Bickerstaff's career record of 320-333 doesn't accurately reflect his coaching acumen, since it includes three seasons where he had to clean up for the previous coach.

Bickerstaff had strong defenses in Cleveland, ranking seventh, first and sixth in his last three seasons. With the Pistons last season, the team went from No. 26 in defense to No. 11, and from 14 wins to 44. This year they're 22-5 and have the NBA's second-best defense. The Cavaliers are 15-13 and 12th in defense.

Sure, Bickerstaff inherited a team with excellent young players Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren. They're just two of the players who have improved under Bickerstaff, and both those players were also on the 14-win team of 2023-24. Adding quality veterans helped, but Bickerstaff was the most important offseason acquisition the Pistons made before last season.

Kenny Atkinson won 64 games and won Coach of the Year last season. The Cavaliers still may have made a big mistake letting their old coach go.