Central Notes: Mitchell, Harden, Bickerstaff, Dillingham, Brown
Donovan Mitchell doesn’t have any concerns about how he and James Harden will mesh in the Cavaliers’ new starting backcourt, he told Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
“I’ve never played with a guy like James Harden. I never had a guy like that on my team,” Mitchell said. “And we’re not here to figure out like who’s bigger, better or whatever. How are we going to win? And I think having that relationship helps. But it also speaks to the type of people that he and I are. We’re trying to figure what’s right. For him to go out there and say he’s trying to help me, that’s huge. That’s huge for everything. … Winning is the end-all, right? I’m not worried about how we’ll fit and how we’ll coexist because we have the same goal in mind, and it doesn’t matter how we get there. We just want to get there.”
Mitchell also touched on a number of other topics in a monthly diary, including his feelings on the sad way Chris Paul‘s career ended.
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Following J.B. Bickerstaff‘s dismissal as head coach of the Cavaliers after the 2023/24 season, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever get another opportunity, he told Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “I didn’t think I was going to get a job,” he said. “There weren’t jobs available at that point. So I was just sitting at home and hanging out with my family back in Cleveland trying to figure out what was next.” New Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon soon offered him a head coaching job within the division. He learned from his days in Cleveland how to improve in his next stop. “That month that I had off gave me an opportunity to, like, evaluate myself and think about what I was going to be at the next opportunity and just understanding that the focus should always be on the process and not just focused on the results,” he said. “In my last year in Cleveland, I let that get the best of me, where it was like results, results, results. And we skipped some of the process stuff.”
- Rob Dillingham, a 2024 lottery selection, had trouble cracking the Timberwolves’ rotation and earning sustained minutes. After getting traded to the Bulls, Dillingham is getting a longer look from coach Billy Donovan, though he’ll still likely have to fight for playing time when the team’s backcourt gets healthy, notes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Dillingham has averaged 11.0 points, 4.0 assists, 3.7 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.3 turnovers in 24.7 minutes per game over three appearances. “His job and responsibility is to generate shots for guys when he gets (inside) and understand the shots where he has angles and can shoot a high percentage on and the shots he can’t,” Donovan said. “It’s not like I’m giving him free rein, we need him downhill, but he also can’t be jumping off two feet, getting caught in the air, trying to shoot over guys, trying to throw passes that aren’t there. He’s got to clean that up and we’ve got to help him do it. What I don’t want him to do is not be aggressive or be afraid to attack. He has to attack. He just has to make better decisions, and I think that will come in time.”
- Along with acquiring Ivica Zubac from the Clippers, the Pacers added guard Kobe Brown in the deal. Brown was only averaging 8.7 minutes in L.A. but could see his minutes jump the remainder of the season with Indiana. “I’m grateful, for sure. Grateful to be in this position,” he told Tony East of CircleCitySpin.com. “I feel like this team is a great team. Obviously, they were just in the Finals last year and were so close to winning it. And for them to want me here is big. So I’m happy and excited to be here and be a part of it.” Brown has played in two games with Indiana thus far, including a start against Brooklyn on Wednesday.
Pistons Notes: Bickerstaff, Suspensions, Reed, Cunningham, Duren
The Pistons have stunned the NBA world by going from worst to first in the Eastern Conference in two seasons. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff is somewhat surprised by the team’s quick rise but felt good about joining the organization after owner Tom Gores hired Trajan Langdon as the president of basketball operations in 2024. Shortly after being fired by Detroit’s Central Division rivals in Cleveland, Bickerstaff was hired by Langdon.
“When you were with the group every day, you knew there was a ton of potential there. I couldn’t tell you that I would say that a year and a half later we’d be coaching the All-Star Game and be in first place, but I knew we were going to grow, I knew we were going to continue to get better and we had the pieces,” Bickerstaff told Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “The biggest thing for me also I trust Trajan totally because Trajan is the type of person that understands team and how to construct a roster. I think the small, subtle moves that he made last [season] and then even this [season], that helped elevate this team and I trusted his vision and plan.”
Bickerstaff says he doesn’t talk to the team about winning a championship this season because he’s more focused on winning in the short term.
“We’re all about the process. We talk about today every single day,” he said. “That helps control the emotional ups and downs. If you’re looking at big picture views of 10 games and all that, there’s so many different things that can vary. But if you can stay in the moment and focused on that, it helps your team continue to get better because you’re just attacking the problem that’s in front of you.”
We have more on the Pistons:
- All-Star center Jalen Duren and key reserve Isaiah Stewart will continue to serve their suspensions when the team returns to action on Thursday. Duren has one more game left on his suspension for his part in a scuffle with the Hornets last week, while Stewart still has six games to go. Bickerstaff told Spears the Pistons’ depth will carry them through this stretch. “Whenever they have been called upon, they have lived up to the moment and the team has supported them and helped them be successful,” Bickerstaff said of his reserves. “That’s how we move forward. We hold the fort down until our guys get back. We will miss those guys while they are out but the strength of our team has been our depth and we will contribute to use that as a weapon.”
- Paul Reed stepped forward in the first game after the suspensions were issued, a 113-95 road victory over the Raptors. Reed finished with 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting, five rebounds, four blocks and three assists starting in place of Duren. “My minutes might not be consistent, but my teammates and coaches expect me to come in and be ready, and that is what I am going to do,” Reed said, per Coty Davis of the Detroit News. “I take pride in that. To come in and know that when things go left, I can step up and provide.” Reed re-signed with Detroit on a two-year, $11MM contract last summer but his $5.6MM salary for next season is not guaranteed.
- Cade Cunningham and Duren were prominent members of the USA Stars team that prevailed in the three-team All-Star contest on Sunday, Davis notes. In those three 12-minute games, Cunningham recorded 15 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three blocks, while Duren finished with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
- Duren, a restricted free agent after the season, said that the bad times he and the team endured during his first two seasons have provided extra motivation for everyone in the organization. “It’s kinda like being broke and then getting money,” Duren told Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “You never want to be broke again. That’s really what it is, bro, is understanding what that bottom felt like and never wanting to go back because we all have basketball pride and we all want to be the best in what we do. Knowing what that bottom feels like again, it’s never wanting to be back.”
Central Notes: Cunningham, Bickerstaff, Siakam, Bulls
Pistons guard Cade Cunningham will make his second straight All-Star appearance on Sunday. He tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape that being selected to the 2026 exhibition was one of his long-term goals, as the mini-tournament is being held at the Intuit Dome, where the men’s basketball competition will take place at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“The L.A. All-Star Game was part of that plan,” Cunningham said. “I wanted to make sure I’m in there. And then win a championship and be an Olympic point guard. It’s all part of the long-term plan, for sure.”
Cunningham is having an excellent all-around season for Detroit, averaging 25.3 points, 9.6 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals on .462/.330/.802 shooting through 46 games (34.9 minutes per game). Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff made sure to point out that Cunningham excels on both ends of the court for the top-seeded Pistons.
“He is a [6-foot-6] point guard who dominates all areas of the offensive end of the floor,” Bickerstaff told Andscape. “But what I don’t think people talk about enough is his defense, his willingness to guard the other team’s best players.
“The impact that he has on that end of the floor – to me, he’s one of the top five two-way players in our league. There may be some guys that they talk about offensively, but his impact is on both ends of the floor. There’s not many guys in this league that are that way.”
Here’s more from around the Central:
- In an interview with Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com, Bickerstaff said he didn’t expect to be hired by the Pistons in the 2024 offseason after being let go by the Cavaliers. “I didn’t think I was going to get a job,” Bickerstaff told Heavy Sports. “There weren’t jobs available at that point. So I was just sitting at home and hanging out with my family back in Cleveland trying to figure out what was next. We were going to move to San Clemente, California. There’s a soccer academy there, and we were going to go there and let the kids go to the academy and train.” Bickerstaff has spearheaded a dramatic turnaround in Detroit, and he says he was able to grow from the experience of being fired by the Cavaliers. “That month that I had off gave me an opportunity to, like, evaluate myself and think about what I was going to be at the next opportunity and just understanding that the focus should always be on the process and not just focused on the results,” he said. “In my last year in Cleveland, I let that get the best of me, where it was like results, results, results. And we skipped some of the process stuff.”
- Pacers star Pascal Siakam recently spoke to Mark Medina of EssentiallySports at the Basketball Without Borders All-Star camp at the Lakers’ practice facility. Siakam was introduced to the NBA world when he attended a BWB camp in Africa in 2012. “I saw Luol Deng. I saw Serge Ibaka. I saw NBA players at that time. I thought, ‘This is cool.’ I saw NBA coaches. I had never been exposed to the NBA beforehand. I think that was my first time,” Siakam said. “I think I will always remember those memories and see how excited we were to get the opportunity. After that, my love for the game grew. We’re here now.” The All-Star forward also discussed his growth as a vocal leader, Tyrese Haliburton‘s impact on the team as he recovers from a torn Achilles tendon, and his excitement about playing with new starting center Ivica Zubac, among other topics.
- Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times grades the Bulls‘ trade deadline moves, giving the front office a D-plus because the series of transactions “came at least a season too late.”
And-Ones: Ott, Lee, No. 1 Pick, Graham, Dort
The Suns’ Jordan Ott and Hornets’ Charles Lee have been named the Western and Eastern Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in January, according to the league (Twitter links). Phoenix went 11-5 last month, while Charlotte posted an 11-6 record.
David Adelman (Nuggets), Chris Finch (Timberwolves) and Tyronn Lue (Clippers) were the other Western Conference nominees. Kenny Atkinson (Cavaliers), J.B. Bickerstaff (Pistons) and Joe Mazzulla (Celtics) were also nominated from the Eastern Conference.
Here’s more from around the international basketball world:
- Kansas shooting guard Darryn Peterson and BYU forward AJ Dybantsa loom as the projected top two picks in the upcoming NBA draft, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. ESPN polled 20 NBA scouts and a dozen chose Peterson as the top pick, while Dybantsa garnered the other eight votes. With BYU visiting Kansas this past Saturday, those two stars put on a display to solidify their resumes. Dybantsa had 17 points and Peterson scored 18 in the Jayhawks’ victory. At least 17 NBA teams had reps at the contest. However, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman claims there’s another legitimate candidate for the top pick (Twitter link). He says multiple front office executives and scouts have Duke’s Cameron Boozer atop their draft boards.
- Former NBA guard Devonte’ Graham and Crvena Zvevda have severed ties. After several consecutive games without playing, Graham agreed to a termination of his contract, according to Eurohoops.net. Graham only played seven EuroLeague games, averaging 3.0 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 11.2 minutes per contest. Graham, who signed with the Serbian club in August, appeared in 336 regular season NBA games, making 171 starts and posting career averages of 11.1 PPG, 2.3 RPG and 4.3 APG.
- Thunder defensive ace Luguentz Dort has hired Klutch Sports as his representative, the agency tweets. Oklahoma City holds an $18.2MM club option on his contract for next season.
Pistons Notes: Stewart, Secondary Scorer, Ivey, Sasser, Bickerstaff, Duren
Last month, Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff declared that Isaiah Stewart is “the best defensive center in the league and it’s not close,” adding, “I think it’s time that everybody who watches basketball recognizes it.” Stewart is averaging a career-high two blocks per game in 23.6 minutes per game and he explained in detail his shot-blocking prowess and defensive mindset to The Athletic’s Hunter Patterson.
“It’s kind of like a fight,” Stewart said. “You can’t be scared to get punched, you know what I mean? So for me, it’s just like, OK, you got your dunk. You got your little punch in, but I’m still here and I’m not fading away. I’m going to be here and I’m going to challenge you every time. A lot of it is heart. As much that goes into skill and having the patience, you’ve got to have this (patting his heart). There’s a hundred possessions, at least, in a game. You can’t pick and choose when you want to guard the rim.”
Stewart has his sights set on the Defensive Player of the Year award. However, the 20-minute requirement within the 65-game rule could come into play in his case. To qualify for end-of-season awards, a player must play at least 20 minutes in 63 or more games (and between 15-20 in at least two others).
“It is the goal,” Stewart said. “I truly believe I am the best defender in the league. … I may not always get the block. But I’m altering shots, I’m taping holes in our defense. So that’s my goal, that’s something I’m working toward.”
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Detroit’s loss to the Rockets on Friday displayed the need for a second scorer to complement Cade Cunningham, Patterson opines. Houston packed the paint when he had the ball in his hands and blitzed him in pick-and-roll actions as Cunningham was held to 12 points by a quality opponent. That reinforced the notion that the Pistons need another player they can count on for a steady 20 points per game.
- With next week’s trade deadline looming, the Detroit Free Press’ Omari Sankofa II listed the team’s trade assets, breaking down the players into a various categories. He views Jaden Ivey and Marcus Sasser as “young players worth surveying the market for,” noting that Ivey is headed to restricted free agency and that Sasser’s role has been minimized by the emergence of two-way player Daniss Jenkins.
- Bickerstaff has already been named as one of the head coaches for the three-team All-Star Game. Center Jalen Duren believes he should receive the league’s postseason award as well. “Coach of the Year. I think it’s obvious at this point that he should be,” Duren said after the team blew out Sacramento on Sunday. “They might as well give it to him now, because he deserves it. I mean, he’s put us in position to be where we are now. He’s a part of the culture, the main part of the culture that we’ve built these last two years. And he’s very deserving for everything that comes his way. I mean he’s an amazing coach. He’s an amazing mentor, an amazing leader. I think as we continue to do what we do, the world is just going to continue to see it.”
J.B. Bickerstaff To Coach In All-Star Game
The Pistons’ J.B. Bickerstaff has wrapped up one of three head coaching slots in next month’s All-Star Game, the NBA announced (via Twitter).
The Celtics’ loss on Saturday night in Chicago ensured that Detroit will hold the best record in the East by the February 1 cutoff. At 32-11, the Pistons have a five-game lead over second place Boston, which is 28-17.
The coaching honor continues a remarkable turnaround under Bickerstaff, who was hired in 2024 to take over a franchise that had finished last in the East in back-to-back years. He led Detroit to a 44-38 record last season, a 30-game improvement from the previous year, and a competitive first-round series against New York. The resurgence has continued as the Pistons currently have the second-best record in the NBA.
This will be Bickerstaff’s first time serving as a head coach in the All-Star Game, and he’s the first Detroit coach to enjoy that honor since Flip Saunders did it 20 years ago.
Oklahoma City holds a comfortable lead in the West, but Mark Daigneault was an All-Star head coach last season and league rules prohibit coaches from serving in that capacity in consecutive years. The honor will go to the coach with the second-best record on February 1, with San Antonio currently a half-game ahead of Denver and three games in front of Houston.
The All-Star Game, which takes place February 15 in Los Angeles, will feature a U.S. vs. the World format this year, with two teams of American players and one made up of players who were born elsewhere.
Central Notes: Cavs, Jenkins, Brown, Bickerstaff, Potter
Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson is mulling rotation changes after his second unit was gouged by the Pistons in a four-point loss on Sunday, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com reports. Detroit staged a second-quarter rally and led the rest of the way.
“We gotta look at it,” Atkinson said when asked about some of the lineups used in the second quarter. “Obviously, wasn’t the right combination. Obviously, the bench play hurt us (Sunday).”
The second unit provided a spark last season, led by Ty Jerome, who signed with Memphis during the offseason. The Cavs have the NBA’s fourth least-productive bench this season.
“Maybe we keep two of our stars out there at the same time,” Atkinson said. “We’ve gotta help them. We started Sam (Merrill) tonight and that obviously hurts the bench, so we just gotta figure it out. It’s definitely, definitely hurting us in those minutes.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Pistons two-way guard Daniss Jenkins fell one point short of the franchise record for points scored in a second quarter on Sunday. Jenkins racked up 21 points in those 12 minutes, making all seven of his field goal attempts, including six three-pointers. Jenkins also closed out the game with four free throws. Jenkins’ 21-point quarter was the highest scoring by a bench player in franchise history. “He was unbelievable,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said, per Coty Davis of the Detroit News. “It’s the trust factor, we talk about it all the time. We have 18 guys on our roster that we believe in. We have 18 guys who we believe can help us win when we put them in the game. They know how to play Pistons’ basketball. They play unselfishly. They play with a high spirit. They have the confidence to go out and do what it takes to get it done.” Jenkins is a prime candidate to eventually receive a standard contract.
- Knicks head coach Mike Brown used to babysit Bickerstaff, James Edwards III of The Athletic reveals. They now coach the top two teams in the East. The Knicks and Pistons will square off for the first time since their playoff matchup last season on Monday. “He was strict,” Bickerstaff said. “He had a great way of making things fun but always organized and detailed. There weren’t going to be things that were missed, and he was scared to death of my dad (longtime NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff). He wasn’t going to let anything happen to me.”
- Micah Potter, who signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Pacers late last month, was one of the 12 players named to the USA Select Team in June 2024 that scrimmaged against Team USA in Las Vegas prior to the Paris Olympics. He was also one of three players who stuck with the team as practice players through its July exhibition tour, an unforgettable experience for the big man. “That was the, hands down, coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Potter told Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “I had no idea that was gonna happen until my agent called me out of the blue. Going into that kind of environment — Kevin Durant said it’s the greatest team he’s ever played on, and so with that, you could argue it’s the greatest team ever assembled which is incredible. You go down the list and look at the names and it’s incredible. So being in that kind of an environment, you see how those kinds of guys prepare, right? You see how they approach the game, mentally and physically. It’s one of those things where you go into that environment — and I ended up playing, which is nuts too, getting on the floor with all of them — you learn to gain confidence.”
Central Notes: Mathurin, Cunningham, Bickerstaff, Potter
Bennedict Mathurin is expected to miss some time for the Pacers as he works to come back from a right thumb sprain and turf toe, writes Scott Agness of the Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link).
“When we’re down numbers, it becomes more challenging, but we’ve gotten some guys back,” said coach Rick Carlisle before Sunday’s game. “But now Mathurin’s out for a while.”
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports (via Twitter) that Mathurin has been trying to play through the thumb sprain for multiple weeks, but that he needs some time to heal. The fourth-year guard also admitted last month that the toe injury which cost him 11 games earlier in the season was still bothering him.
Mathurin is averaging a career-high 17.8 points per game for the depleted Pacers, but his numbers have dipped since mid-December, likely due in large part to his health issues. Over his last 11 games, he’s averaging 13.5 PPG on .369/.271/.973 shooting splits.
There was no immediate timeline given for his return.
We have more from the Central Division:
- Cade Cunningham, who is playing the best basketball of his career for the East-leading Pistons, credits former NBA guard and current assistant coach Jarrett Jack for helping him take a leap as a player and leader, writes Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. Sankofa writes that Jack was “attached” to Cunningham upon joining the staff of former head coach Monty Williams. The two do one-on-one work, pregame warmups, and talk on the bench during games together. “He’s always making jokes, always being funny, talking about he could’ve did this or I ain’t that, whatever,” Cunningham said. “It’s cool, man. He just knows how to read the room. That’s the type of stuff that allows the culture to be what it is, people like that. He’s one of the main ones that’s helped build this culture that we got.”
- There were added stakes for the Pistons as they got their first road win against the Cavaliers since coach J.B. Bickerstaff came to Detroit from Cleveland, writes Hunter Patterson of The Athletic (Twitter link). “I feel like we’ve got to have his back coming into here, because I know they get up to play against J.B. every single time,” said Isaiah Stewart, who started in the place of the injured Jalen Duren and contributed three blocks and two steals in the four-point victory. “So it was important for us to get this win tonight.” Coming into today’s game, the Cavaliers were 4-1 against their old coach.
- Micah Potter went from the G League to starting Pacers center in about a week. It’s been a whirlwind, but his previous experience with Team USA has helped him find ways to fit in and be productive, writes Dustin Dopirak of the Indy Star. “The confidence it gave me was like, I belong, right?” Potter said. “I’m not saying I’m going to be a Kevin Durant, a LeBron James, a Tyrese Haliburton, a Steph Curry. I’m not going to be those guys, but I can help those guys. I can find a role to create for those guys whether I’m scoring or not. And that was the thing that gave me the most confidence, and I also hit a couple of shots which was really cool too.” Potter’s first start came on Friday in a loss to the Spurs. He scored 16 points on 4-of-8 from three with six rebounds. In Sunday’s matchup against the Magic, he had 11 points and 10 rebounds in just over 29 minutes. “Just try to do my job as best I can,” he said. “Create for my teammates, whether that’s passing, shooting open shots, setting good screens, anything like that. Just trying to create space for my teammates and play off that.”
Spurs’ Johnson, Celtics’ Mazzulla Named Coaches Of The Month
Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson is December’s Coach of the Month in the Western Conference, while Joe Mazzulla of the Celtics is the Eastern Conference recipient of the award, the NBA announced today (Twitter link).
Johnson guided the Spurs to an 11-3 record in December, not including the NBA Cup final, which doesn’t count toward the regular season standings. San Antonio’s big month, which included three separate victories over the defending champion Thunder, occurred despite Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle each missing multiple games due to injuries.
In addition to posting the NBA’s best record for the month, the Spurs also had the fifth-best offensive rating (118.9) and sixth-ranked defensive rating (112.0), which helped earn Johnson Coach of the Month recognition over fellow nominees David Adelman (Nuggets), Mark Daigneault (Thunder), and Chris Finch (Timberwolves), per the league (Twitter link).
As for Mazzulla’s Celtics, they ranked eighth in the East entering December, but finished the month as the No. 3 seed in the conference after going 9-3.
Even without perennial All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum, Boston had the NBA’s best offensive rating (124.3) and second-best net rating (+11.0) in December en route to wins over the Knicks, Lakers, and Raptors (twice), among others.
J.B. Bickerstaff of the Pistons, Mike Brown of the Knicks, and Jordi Fernandez of the Nets were also nominated for the award.
Daigneault and Bickerstaff earned the monthly honor for games played in October and November.
Bickerstaff To Replace Carlisle As NBCA President
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle has been president of the National Basketball Coaches Association since 2005, but he’s stepping down at the end of December, writes Ken Powtak of The Associated Press.
Carlisle said he will be replaced by Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who was selected by union members. A longtime NBA coach, the 46-year-old Bickerstaff currently serves as the NBCA’s vice president/treasurer.
“I guess now might be a good time to announce, I decided about a year ago that this would be my last year,” Carlisle said Monday night before the Pacers played in Boston. “This is my 20th year. My term will end at the end of this month. We’ve held our elections and the membership has made a tremendous and phenomenal choice to succeed me and that’s going to be J.B. Bickerstaff.”
Carlisle spoke glowingly of Bickerstaff, calling him a “trusted friend,” Powtak adds.
“The job he did in Cleveland, taking that team from the lottery to winning in the playoffs was phenomenal. The job he’s done in Detroit the last year and a half speaks for itself. He’s a great leader and passionate guy for coaches. … I congratulate J.B. This will be a life-changing experience for him. It has been for me.”
Carlisle also said he and the NBCA are trying to help Bickerstaff’s father Bernie be nominated to the Hall of Fame as a contributor, according to Powtak. The elder Bickerstaff was an NBA coach for several decades and is now a senior advisor with the Pistons.