Pistons make decision on new president of basketball operations

The man tasked with righting the ship for the lowly Detroit Pistons will at least be an experienced one.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported Thursday that Detroit has landed on Trajan Langdon as their new president of basketball operations. Langdon is currently the general manager of the New Orleans Pelicans but will now be leaving to head the Pistons front office.

That is a pretty seismic hire by the Pistons as the 48-year-old Langdon is a highly regarded executive. He had served as GM of the Pelicans since 2019, helping the team rebuild into a playoff team in the post-Anthony Davis era.

A former standout at Duke University, Langdon was the No. 11 overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft. He played three years in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers before spending the next decade on teams overseas. After retiring as a player, Langdon became a scout for the San Antonio Spurs and then the assistant general manager for the Brooklyn Nets before taking the New Orleans general manager job.

Though they have some decent young talent to work with, the Pistons have one of the bleakest outlooks in the NBA currently. They went a league-worst 14-68 this season (after going 17-65 last season) and only ended up with the No. 5 overall pick in this year’s draft to show for it. The Langdon hire at least looks like a strong one, but it may not be nearly as ambitious as the one that was previously rumored for Detroit.