Thoughts on the New Detroit Pistons President: Op-Ed
Ever since the Detroit Pistons’ regular season ended with the team at the bottom of the NBA tally (again), the franchise has been promising to hire a new president of basketball operations to oversee everything in the organization. Now, news is breaking that the Pistons are in the process of hiring New Orleans Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon to serve as their new Detroit Pistons president. In the role, Langdon will reportedly have the power to control the entire organization, including making decisions on coaches, players and more.
New Orleans Pelicans GM Trajan Langdon to Be the New Detroit Pistons President
The Detroit Pistons have confirmed to multiple sources that Langdon will be the new head of the team’s front office. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic were the first outlets to confirm the Detroit Pistons president news. According to ESPN, Trajan Langdon will have “sweeping power to make changes to the organization and set a course for the franchise’s future.” Something needs to happen, of course, as the Pistons only had 14 wins last season and have several consecutive years in the draft lottery. I’ve been watching the Pistons games this season, and while I love them even when they’re a hot mess, it would also be nice to actually see my home team win more games.
Trajan Langdon has been the Pelicans’ general manager for the past five years. Before being at the Pelicans, he worked as the assistant GM of the Brooklyn Nets from 2016 to 2019. Langdon has brought on a roster of talent to the Pelicans’ team since 2019, including Kira Lewis, Zion Wiliamson, Dyson Daniels and Jordan Hawkins.
While I was hoping the Pistons would wait for Minnesota Timberwolves head executive Tim Connelly, who was also in the running for the job. I’m okay with them going with Langdon for the new Detroit Pistons president. For one, I’m glad to see the Pistons bringing in fresh blood. There was some talk of promoting from within, and while I’m all about organizations promoting their own workers, considering how rock-bottom the Pistons are right now, it wouldn’t have made sense to hire someone involved with the current team. What’s more, the Pelicans had a decent season this past season. They actually tied their second-best record in franchise history with a 49-33 record. They lost as the No. 8 seed in the first round of the playoffs. While that doesn’t rival the Timberwolves’ record, I think Detroit would explode with excitement if we got that far next season.
One other reason I like the Langdon pick is because he has a history in the general manager role, and it will be helpful to have someone with his level of general manager experience in the organization. Go Pistons. I’m buying my jerseys now, while they’re still cheap.
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