Trajan Langdon helps transform Detroit Pistons: ‘I did feel I could make a change here’

It’s impossible for Trajan Langdon to truly understand what Detroit Pistons players and fans have endured for years, but the team’s president of basketball operations did get a sense of the pain upon arrival.

The three-time NBA champions have had three playoff appearances and one winning season since 2009. Detroit hit rock bottom with a franchise-worst 14 wins a season ago. But in what now appears to be one of the greatest turnarounds in NBA history, Langdon’s Pistons appear playoff-bound for the first time since 2019.

Tonight, the new-look Pistons (38-31) will play the Miami Heat on ESPN (7:30 p.m. ET).

“I’m so excited for the fans, for the city and for these players,” Langdon told Andscape. “They have been talking about [playoffs] since I got here. They want to do something special for this team against the belief of this whole league.

“Nobody in the league believed they could do it. It would mean the world to them. And they’ve been pushing for it because they’ve been through a lot of stuff.”

NBA All-Star Cade Cunningham has led a rejuvenated Pistons roster with a mix of talented young players and proven veterans back to relevance. In his first season as Pistons head coach, J.B. Bickerstaff has made his mark as well. But Langdon, the Pistons’ new architect, also deserves kudos for the role he has played in the quick remake.

“A lot of people questioned why I was taking [this job], coming from ‘Nola’ [New Orleans] with the kind of the roster we had built there with the young talent we had,” Langdon said. “But when you get an opportunity to run an organization, there’s only 30 teams. And I did feel I could make a change here.”

Said Bickerstaff: “Trajan has done a tremendous job.”

From 1987 to 2008, the Pistons were one of the NBA’s most storied franchises with three championships and appearances in five NBA Finals appearances and 11 Eastern Conference finals. The Pistons had the best winning percentage (.693) in the East from 2003-08, according to Basketball Reference. Pistons legends Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman, Chauncey Billups, Ben Wallace and Adrian Dantley have been named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Then the dark Pistons era arrived.

From 2009 to 2024, the Pistons have advanced to the playoffs just three times, all resulting in first-round exits. During the 2015-16 season, the Pistons finished with their only winning record (44-38) since 2008. No Pistons team in history had a worse record than the 14-win team from a season ago, which also endured a 28-game losing streak. From 2008 to 2023, the Pistons had the worst losing percentage (.367) in the NBA (466-804 record) according to Basketball Reference.

General manager Troy Weaver stepped down on June 1, 2024, after four seasons, then on June 19, 2024, the Pistons fired head coach Monty Williams after one season despite having five years and $65 million remaining on his pact.

“Being one of the bottom teams in the league was tough in general,” Cunningham told Andscape. “I would say [the 28-game losing] streak, but losing is always hard.”

Said Pistons owner Tom Gores in a statement: “Our mistakes in the past have nothing to do with just one person.”

Langdon first made his name in the basketball world starring in college at Duke. The 11th overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft lasted three NBA seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers before being waived in training camp by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2003. Langdon also played professionally in Italy, Turkey and Russia and was a two-time EuroLeague champion.

After retiring in 2011, Langdon became a scout for the San Antonio Spurs from 2012-15. The Brooklyn Nets hired him as an assistant GM in 2015. The New Orleans Pelicans hired Langdon as their general manager in 2019.

Langdon was a candidate for executive positions with the Washington Wizards in 2023 and the Charlotte Hornets in 2024. He didn’t land either job and felt discouraged after believing he interviewed well.

“Of course, I was upset,” Langdon, 48, said. “I always felt the right place at the right time will come along. And of course you’re competitive.”

Next up was for Langdon was a possible head of basketball operations opportunity with the struggling Pistons. Even with the losing, Detroit was still rich in young talent like Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson, Jalen Duren, Quentin Grimes and Isaiah Stewart. Despite understood pessimism from colleagues, Langdon truly wanted the Pistons job and was worried he could fall shy again.

“Obviously, from afar seeing what was going on and listening, I think there was a little [anxiety],” Langdon said. “I didn’t know. I had missed on the Washington job. And missed on the Charlotte job. And sure, I think there was a part of me that was like, ‘That’s a lot of misses. Do I want to go down this road?’ ”

There was reason for optimism for Langston with the Pistons due to his ties to the franchise. Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem was Langdon’s former agent. Pistons advisor and former Brooklyn Nets GM Billy King also played basketball at Duke. The Pistons announced the hiring of Langdon on June 21, 2024.

“After listening to Arn, Billy King, and then most importantly to Tom, 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.”

Said Gores: “We needed a fresh start and we needed Trajan to lead with a fresh start.”

On the day Langdon’s hiring was announced, one of the biggest questions was who was going to be the Pistons’ next head coach.

Bickerstaff, Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Sean Sweeney, Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori and Pelicans assistant coach James Borrego were listed as candidates. The Cavaliers fired Bickerstaff on May 23, 2024, after he earned the fifth-most wins in franchise history (170-159 record). On July 3, 2024, the Pistons hired Bickerstaff as their new head coach, the first major hire of Langdon’s tenure.

“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 also signed veteran free agents to add talent, depth and needed leadership to a young Pistons squad.

On July 6, 2024, veteran guard Tim Hardaway Jr. was traded from the Dallas Mavericks along with three future second-round picks to the Pistons in exchange for Grimes. In another move that day, Detroit signed free agent guard Malik Beasley to a one-year deal worth more than $6 million. Free agent forward Tobias Harris agreed to a two-year, $52 million deal on July 8, 2024. Langdon also selected G League Ignite forward Ron Holland with the fifth overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft.

Suddenly, the Pistons had hope for improvement with a solid mix of up-and-coming young talent and proven veterans on their roster entering the 2024-25 season.

“One of the unmentioned smaller details of the summer acquisitions was with the veteran players,” Bickerstaff said. “It wasn’t just their court presence, but it was the fact that they were on the court. When you go back and look at those guys’ career, they’re extremely durable, available, and guys who we’re on the floor.

“You go back [and] look at their track record and they play a ton of games every year. It was great in leadership and mentorship for our young guys to see how they prepared, how they took care of themselves, what they ate, how they practiced, what they did in the weight room. Those were just small, subtle details that he [Langdon] knocked out of the park.”

The Pistons opened the season 0-4 and the boos and lack of optimism returned. Langdon and Bickerstaff noticed the jeers but stayed optimistic.

“The first couple games they were booing,” Langdon said. “It was just a carryover from last season. Of course, it’s going to take time. Passionate fans and a historical franchise like the Pistons, they want a winner. So, they’re not seeing that right away. And they’re seeing maybe some remnants from last season, which was going to be normal regardless if we were going to have success.”

The boos ultimately began changing to cheers for Pistons fans in late 2024. Langdon said he felt change was truly on the horizon when Ivey made a late four-point play to spark the Pistons to a stunning 114-113 road win in Sacramento on Dec. 26, 2024. Ivey, however, suffered a season-ending broken leg against the Orlando Magic on Jan. 1. Ivey was averaging 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

In his first three NBA seasons, Cunningham had not played on a Pistons team that had a winning record after five games. But on Feb. 9, Detroit owned a 27-26 record after a 112-102 win over the Hornets and has had a winning record ever since. Today, Detroit is now on pace to win 32 more games this season than last season, which would be the best year-over-year improvement in franchise history and the sixth-best in NBA history. Detroit is also 25-12 since Jan. 1.

“It’s still work in progress. But there’s obviously huge changes to the team’s mentality and their belief in game that they can win games,” Langdon said.

Barring a late-season fall, the Pistons are on pace to earn their first playoff berth since 2019 and first winning season since 2016. Bickerstaff also credited Langdon for adding two adding veteran point guard Dennis Schroder and guard Lindy Waters III in February.

“He has an ability to see the game and understand the game,” Bickerstaff said on Langdon. “At the trade deadline he could’ve panicked with what people were saying. But he did what was right by these guys and went out and got us some additional ballhandling guys who’ve been there done that before in Dennis. [He] Added shooting with Lindy. He’s done a phenomenal job of building the team and executing a plan even though the plan may have shifted.”

It’s certainly a new day for the rejuvenated Pistons. Cunningham is having an All-NBA season. The deep, gritty and athletic Pistons are playing great basketball on both ends of the floor. And it seems destined that playoff basketball will be back in Detroit with a pleased and excited Langdon running the show.

“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.”