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On a May morning in 2024, Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores finished his final interview with Trajan Langdon with a tough question at 2 a.m. “Do you have a stomach for this [job]? Because it’s not going to be easy,” Gores told Andscape he asked Langdon.

Andscape

Gores wasn’t underselling the challenges of the Pistons’ president of basketball operations role. Detroit had posted the NBA’s worst record in each of the previous two seasons, including a franchise-low 14 wins and a league-record 28-game losing streak in the prior campaign. The Pistons had last won a playoff game in 2008, a disastrous stretch for a storied franchise with three titles to its name. But from rising out of basketball obscurity in Alaska to overcoming knee surgery at Duke to responding to a failed NBA playing career by flourishing professionally in Europe, nothing has ever come easy for Langdon. So, “The Alaskan Assassin” quickly decided he could stomach yet another challenge and said yes to the Pistons.

Andscape

“He didn’t blink. He was all in,” Gores said. “Then I asked him to text me his top 20 action items and get started first thing in the morning. “Now, I didn’t expect things to turn around as fast as they did, but I’m not surprised.” Two years later, Langdon, 49, has led the Pistons from the NBA basement to the best record in the Eastern Conference. Last season, Year 1 under Langdon, the Pistons and new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff won 44 games, celebrated Cade Cunningham as a first-time All-Star, and pushed the New York Knicks to six games in the first round, making their first playoff appearance since 2019. The Pistons finished this season with an East-best 60 wins, led by two All-Stars in Cunningham and Jalen Duren and an NBA Coach of the Year candidate in Bickerstaff. The East’s top-seed Pistons will host the winner of a play-in game between the Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets tonight in a first-round playoff matchup starting Sunday.

Andscape

‪Keith Langlois‬: Update: Minnesota's win over Houston means the Pistons will pick 21st. That was a great bit of work Trajan Langdon did in the 3-team deal that netted Kevin Huerter, moving up 7 spots. To do that on draft night would have cost ... a future protected first, probably?

bsky.app

Langdon was a longtime fan of Cunningham’s, dating to his lone season at Oklahoma State. “I didn’t think that there was anything he was incapable of with his size, length, with his understanding of the game,” says Langdon. But when Langdon accepted the Pistons’ job, he had a question: Did Cunningham, who had been the top pick in 2021, still want to be there? Three years of declining win totals would tax any player. And Cunningham was set to have his third coach in three seasons. Langdon remembered Cunningham’s first TV interview after he was drafted. “You could tell he was excited to be in this city,” says Langdon. Now he wanted to know if that was still the case.

Sports Illustrated

Jeremy Otto: Trajan Langdon on 97.1 now says they are still waiting to hear from the league how long Isaiah Stewart will be suspended for #Pistons

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Jeremy Otto: Trajan Langdon says that Malik Beasley is still under an NBA investigation and is not sure when that will conclude

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Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon confirmed during an early press conference Friday that they are working to sign Daniss Jenkins to a standard contract ahead of their road game against the Charlotte Hornets on Monday – securing his future with the Pistons for the rest of the season.  “We’re having conversations with his agent about what that looks like going forward and we’ll convert him over the weekend, and he’ll be a roster player in our game in Charlotte, at least that’s the goal, the hope for the weekend,” Langdon said. “Kudos to him. He’s worked his butt off. All last season playing a ton of games for the Motor City [Cruise], we saw his improvement during the year and I think everybody saw how he played in the summer league in Vegas and he just continued to improve, working not only with his own trainers but with staff and with his teammates through the summer.

Detroit Free Press

Omari Sankofa II: Langdon: "You’ve gotta look at not only the identity of this team, but the camaraderie. You can see it between the lines, you can definitely see it in the locker room. That was a factor for us is making sure that group feels the same way going post trade deadline." (1/2)

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Omari Sankofa II: Langdon: "Obviously the departure of JI is going to be difficult for all of us, but I think Kevin fits the way that we play, high-character guy that’s played in a couple different environments and is excited about being in the winning environment we’re trying to create." (2/2)

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Omari Sankofa II: Langdon reiterates he wants to use the postseason to evaluate what the roster needs. Was asked if any offers tempted him: “Whether it was the other team pulling out or us saying it’s not the right time, I wouldn’t say it got close but there were some talks we were tempted by.”

x.com

Detroit has built on last season’s success and has been the No. 1 team in the East for most of the season, despite not making any big-name trades or free-agent signings in several years. The Pistons have thrived as their high draft picks have matured and general manager Trajan Langdon has filled out the roster around them with capable, role-playing veterans. “I believe, right now, he’s one of the frontrunners for Coach of the Year,” Mike Brown said of JB Bickerstaff. “The first people who come to mind are him and (Celtics head coach) Joe Mazzulla. Those two have done something with teams people thought didn’t have a chance, and they’re right there despite missing pieces. “It doesn’t surprise me about what he’s doing in Detroit, because I know how passionate he is, how hard he works, and he’s extremely intelligent.”

New York Times

Where do you see the front office’s priority being placed on at the trade deadline? I’m still expecting Detroit’s front office to be opportunistic but not aggressive. The Pistons have a slim lead over the New York Knicks for the No. 1 seed in the conference. Trajan Langdon, Detroit’s president of basketball operations, has openly expressed his desire to let the team continue growing internally since taking over at the beginning of last season. While there could be some chances to improve around the margins — say another reliable 3-point shooter outside of Duncan Robinson or a scoring threat off the bench — don’t expect the Pistons to sacrifice their youth and draft capital to make any big-swing trades that could alter the fabric of the roster.

New York Times