This Trajan Langdon comment should have Pistons fans worried

Detroit Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon has brought a ton of good will for himself. He took a Pistons team that went 14-68 a season before and shook it up enough to pull off arguably one of the greatest turnarounds in NBA history.

The Pistons tripled their win total from 2023-24 to 2024-25, which has never happened in NBA history. Yes, their 44-38 season was marred by a first round loss tot he New York Knicks, but even the Pistons being in the playoffs was the cherry on top of the sundae in Detroit. 

That's not to mention the fact that the Pistons were incredibly competitive against the Knicks. They took two games and in reality could have won the series as each game came down to the wire.

The future is once again bright in Detroit. Much of that has to do with Cade Cunningham's ascension into superstardom and let's not forget head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who had a solid case for the NBA's Coach of the Year award.

Langdon was the architect of the turnaround, though, and he deserves a ton of credit for it. 

Still, one of the comments he made at his end of year press conference was a bit head scratching, and if he was serious about what he said, Pistons fans may find themselves worried heading into next season.

He was asked who he believes will be the team's second-leading scorer next season behind Cunningham.

"I don't, and I'm excited to see who that will be," was the answer, according to the Detroit Free Press.

In all likelihood this was a smokescreen from Langdon, but if he's serious about not having a distinct and laid out plan for getting a "Robin" to Cunningham's "Batman," he'd be mistaken.

The NBA is a league of stars, and in order to win the Larry O'Brien Trophy, it's been proven in this modern era that not even having one is good enough.

It takes multiple high-end players to win a championship in this league, and while the Pistons do have one in Cunningham, everyone else they have on the roster is unproven and untested.

One could make the case that Jaden Ivey could be Cunningham's running mate, but he's coming off a major injury (a broken left fibula) and it remains to be seen if he'll be able to pick up on or even improve on his 17.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists from the 30 games he played in this season.

Some in Detroit have hope for Ausar Thompson — who is a tremendously talented athlete and an elite defender — but as long as he can't shoot the three at a consistent level he'll never be a superstar in the NBA. He shot 22.4% from three this past season, which was an improvement on the 18.6% he shot from three as a rookie.

Jalen Duren is quickly becoming one of the better big men in the league, but like Thompson, his lack of a deep shooting touch will hinder his potential.

The truth is, the answer for Cunningham's No. 2 may not be on Detroit's current roster and he probably isn't. Langdon is likely going to have to move one of the aforementioned pieces to make a trade to bring in another superstar to play alongside the former No. 1 pick.

Perhaps he does have a plan, and that plan will be put into action this offseason. If not, though, the 2025-26 season could end up being a disappointment for a Pistons team that is, all of a sudden, very interesting.