Three NBA teams fired their coach in the middle of the season, leaving an interim head coach in charge in Phoenix, Milwaukee, and Memphis. While the Suns recently ruled Jay Triano out as a head coaching candidate and the Bucks are expected to look for an upgrade for Joe Prunty, J.B. Bickerstaff has had the interim tag removed in Memphis.
The Grizzlies made the news official on Tuesday announcing Bickerstaff as their head coach going forward in a move that was reportedly in motion over the weekend.
“J.B. did an admirable job as interim head coach last season in what was a challenging set of circumstances,” Grizzlies General Manager Chris Wallace said. “J.B. has connected with our players and earned their respect throughout his time in Memphis, and we have been pleased with his role in developing our young players. We are excited to see him coach with a full offseason and a healthy roster next season.”
Bickerstaff’s hire is a bit of a surprise given how quickly Memphis moved on removing the interim tag. There have been some that noted the Grizzlies seemed to pass on the opportunity to have a full coaching search to give Bickerstaff the job, but it’s clear that internally they were pleased with what Bickerstaff did over the course of the 2017-18 season after taking over for David Fizdale.
The note about developing young players is likely critical to the Grizzlies who are guaranteed a top 5 pick given their position as the No. 2 team in the NBA Draft Lottery. Memphis finds itself in an interesting middle ground of having a high draft pick and being on a bit of a rebuild, but also having a pair of established stars in Marc Gasol and Mike Conley, who missed the majority of the season due to injury which precipitated their fall to the second worst team in the NBA.
