Pistons sign head coach J.B. Bickerstaff to contract extension after first-round playoff win over Magic
The Detroit Pistons have signed head coach J. B. Bickerstaff to a contract extension.
The Pistons announced the transaction on Monday , a day after the Pistons won Game 7 against the Orlando Magic to advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs. Terms of the deal were not announced. Bickerstaff has overseen a turnaround in Detroit that produced the best record in the Eastern Conference this season.
With Sunday’s win, the Pistons have advanced out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Bickerstaff joined the Pistons for the 2024-25 seasons on the heels of a 14-68 campaign in Detroit that produced the worst record in the NBA. In Bickerstaff’s first season, the Pistons improved by 30 wins to 44-38 and clinched a playoff spot.
They improved to 60-22 this season and will now face the No. 4 seed Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the playoffs as the East’s No. 1 seed.
Bickerstaff is in his 10th season as an NBA head coach, including an interim stint with the Houston Rockets in 2015-16. He also spent two seasons as the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies and four-plus seasons with the Cavaliers from 2019-24. The Cavaliers fired Bickerstaff in 2024 despite a third straight winning season (48-34) and a 170-159 (.