Pistons make decision on new head of basketball operations

The Pistons plan to hire Trajan Langdon away from the Pelicans to become their new head of basketball operations, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports that the two sides are working toward finalizing a deal. That deal likely won’t be completed until next week, per Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press.

Langdon has spent the last five years as New Orleans’ general manager, serving as the second in command to executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin. According to Will Guillory of The Athletic, officials within the Pelicans organization “rave about his talent evaluation skills.”

A former standout as a player at Duke, Langdon was drafted with the 11th overall pick in 1999, but he spent just three seasons in the NBA with the Cavaliers. He went on to become a star overseas, winning a pair of EuroLeague titles in 2006 and 2008 with CSKA Moscow. He made multiple All-EuroLeague teams, earned EuroLeague Final Four MVP honors in 2008, and was named to the EuroLeague’s All-Decade team for the 2000s.

After retiring as a player in 2011, Langdon got his first front-office role in San Antonio, working as a scout for the Spurs from 2012-15. Before being hired by the Pelicans, he was an assistant general manager with the Nets for three years under Sean Marks.

Long viewed as a candidate to eventually run a front office, Langdon actually interviewed for the Pelicans’ top job in 2019 before being hired under Griffin. He later received consideration for head of basketball operations jobs in Sacramento and Washington.

After finishing the 2023-24 season with a 14-68 record, marking their fourth straight year at or near the bottom of the NBA’s standings, the Pistons confirmed in mid-April that they were seeking a president of basketball operations who would replace Troy Weaver as the front office’s top decision-maker.

Langdon was named last week as one of four front-runners for the job, along with Scott Perry, Dennis Lindsey and John Hammond. A handful of other candidates were reported during the search process, including Timberwolves president Tim Connelly, who has the opportunity to opt out of his contract with Minnesota this offseason. However, Detroit has opted to move forward with Langdon rather than waiting to see if Connelly will be available.

Previous reporting has indicated that the Pistons’ new front office executive will have the final say on Weaver — who remains with the franchise for now — as well as head coach Monty Williams. Like Langdon, Williams previously spent five years working in New Orleans, but their Pelicans stints didn’t overlap at all.