Trajan Langdon pursued executive positions with two other teams over the past two years, but the Pistons are happy he was still available when they went looking for a new head of basketball operations last spring, writes Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Langdon has overseen an incredible transformation as Detroit has emerged from a 14-win season to boast a 38-31 record entering tonight’s game.
Langdon was in contention for jobs with Washington in 2023 and Charlotte in 2024 before the opportunity with the Pistons came along. He admits being somewhat cautious about joining an organization that was at the bottom of the league, but he was intrigued by the collection of young talent already in place. Langdon also had a few connections with the franchise, as vice chairman Arn Tellem was his former agent and advisor Billy King was a fellow Duke alumnus.
“After listening to Arn, Billy King, and then most importantly to (owner Tom Gores), I thought what they were lacking is what I could provide in terms of just setting a foundation, building a culture,” Langdon said. “I felt that’s what they felt was important. And that’s what I can provide originally or from the start. And then we started talking more and had a lot of conversations with Tom and just felt that it would be a good fit.”
Langdon’s first priority was finding a new coach after the team opted to fire Monty Williams last June. After considering Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney, Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori and Pelicans assistant James Borrego, Langdon opted for J.B. Bickerstaff, who had recently been let go by the Cavaliers.
Bickerstaff told Spears that having Langdon in place influenced his decision to seek the position in Detroit.
“I don’t know if even Trajan knows this, but he was a major part of the selling point for the job,” Bickerstaff said. “His personality. His character. His thought process and logic. The plan that he had in place about where we wanted to go and how he wanted to get there. That was the most important thing to me. And then his want to have a genuine relationship with me beyond basketball and be a true partner in building this thing. Obviously, we have our respective jobs, but it’s a collaboration of thought that goes into all of his plans. And he respects my thoughts and is interested in using my thoughts as he builds it with the decisions that he makes.”
Langdon was aggressive in remaking the roster, acquiring Tim Hardaway Jr. in a trade with Dallas and signing Malik Beasley and Tobias Harris in free agency. He also gambled on G League Ignite forward Ron Holland with the fifth pick in the draft, adding a player with raw skills but extreme athleticism and competitiveness.
This season began like a carryover of the last one as the Pistons started 0-4 and were booed by their home crowd. Langdon and Bickerstaff remained optimistic about what they had built, and eventually the results started showing on the court. The team is currently on pace for a 32-win improvement, which would be the largest in franchise history.
Cade Cunningham has blossomed into one of the NBA’s best guards and made his first All-Star appearance this year. Dennis Schroder and Lindy Waters were picked up at the trade deadline to add depth to the backcourt. Even the absence of Jaden Ivey, who was lost for the season with a broken leg on New Year’s Day, hasn’t slowed down the Pistons.
“We talk a lot about the character of this team that we wanted to put together,” Langdon said. “We have a lot of high character human beings and we wanted to get that grit back. And obviously, the positivity, the passion, the desire to come out and compete and win. It’s a historic franchise that at times has been dominant in this league. And so, to get it back and give the fans what they’ve seen, and to give these players what they want, would be super-meaningful to this franchise right now and also going forward.”
First and foremost I hate the Detroit Pistons with a passion due to the Bad Boys, however this team this year has been nothing short of phenomenal. Langdon was the right hire. He should be the EOY in my opinion, but media is weird and will probably give it to Rob P bc of the Luka deal. The coaching hire, Langdon got right as well. It’s amazing what a new front office and coaching staff does to a team thats been god awful last 15 years of existence for their fans. Kudos to the Pistons and their fans, you guys earned this road back to respectability. I hope my front office across Lake Michigan figures it out but I doubt it. Have fun this spring and enjoy it.
Ps I still hate the Pistons but any nba fan knows how important they are and were for the historical growth of the NBA and it wasn’t just NYK, Boston and LA before Bad Boys arrived.
The NBA is a better place with a good team in Detroit. Hope y’all are next. Let’s see all the classic franchises – meaning, fashionable in the 80s-90s – at the top. (The Thunder count!)
If I’m the Knicks, I’d hope they’d move up to the 4 or 5 seed. I’d hate to play these guys in the first round.
Why? There’s nothing to see here. Did you read some of the names in the article? Tobias Harris? Tim Hardaway Junior? Dennis Schrader? Lindy Waters? Malik Beasley?
Right now they have one or two guys and perhaps the big man also who are very good players and getting better.
But that’s not enough to win a playoff series right now. Next year will be a different story as they continue to build the roster.
But right now The Detroit Pistons are an afterthought in this year’s playoffs.
Duren taking that next step, Cade taking bigger steps and having a deep bench. They’ll be a tough out in the playoffs …… but unlikely to make it past the 1st round.
But who knows, injuries has reared its ugly head way too much in too many playoffs now.
The playoffs are a different animal. I’m most afraid of Milwaukee because they’d have the best player in the series.
Thanks for being good enough to get your pick to the Wolves.
Good for him, Pelicans were loyal to the wrong guy as usual
Remarkable?
It’s the East…
Mosy of the owners don’t care about anything but selling false hope…
There’s also a few meddlers like Dolan who have created messy situations for their teams…
The Pistons have done a great development job after firing Monty…
It’d be a lot tougher out West for them… Lot’s of games against the weak eastern teams inflate the win loss records…
I can’t believe you’re making me do this:
Dolan has been great ever since he hired Leon Rose.