Editor’s note: This article is part of the Program Builders series, focusing on the behind-the-scenes executives and people fueling the future growth of their sports.
After crafting last season’s roster that exceeded expectations, Detroit Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon is now tasked with taking the next step.
The Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks, three of the five Eastern Conference teams ahead of the Pistons in the 2024-25 NBA standings, have had drastic personnel changes this summer. With no clear hierarchy in the East, Langdon and the Detroit front office were focused on their young core rather than seeking a big-name player on the trade market.
Langdon has been clear about going into the 2025 offseason prioritizing patience and giving his young players enough runway to gauge their potential. Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey are 23 years old. Ausar Thompson is 22, Jalen Duren is 21 and Ron Holland II turned 20 in July. Even with the additions of veterans Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert, who are 31 and 30, respectively, Detroit’s average age is roughly 24.
After being acquired at the trade deadline, Dennis Schröder, last year’s backup guard, left the Pistons in free agency for the Sacramento Kings. Tim Hardaway Jr. signed with the Denver Nuggets. Malik Beasley is still an unrestricted free agent; he is no longer being named as a target in a department of justice investigation into sports gambling, Beasley’s lawyer, Steve Haney, confirmed to The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov last week.
The Athletic caught up with Langdon last month to talk about his team’s core, the challenges with re-crafting Pistons culture, his thought process on potential offseason extensions, how the team seeks to promote financial literacy and more.
(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
In Las Vegas, J.B. Bickerstaff mentioned something he’s spoken about all season long in regard to Cade Cunningham’s leadership style and how he brings players with him. According to J.B., Cade doesn’t take opportunities from anyone; he creates them. What quality have you noticed about him that has contributed to last season’s success and his success overall?
The leadership piece is something Cade talked about last summer, something he wanted to lean into and continue to develop. Being that guy on the team, whether it’s bringing guys together off the floor or being that guy on the floor that drives the team on both ends.
It resonates at the start of the season, and I think throughout the season; you saw our guys continue to follow. He uses his voice well, in terms of holding them accountable and driving them in the right direction when he needs to. He’s also very supportive of them and allows them to be who they are as human beings, but also as basketball players.
His leadership style was one of the main reasons you exceeded expectations. … It seems like in recent years, when teams exceed expectations, they might feel the urge to make a trade or alter their roster. How do you go about ensuring last season was real and that players continue to develop without making any of those roster-altering moves?
For us, the reason we were more successful (than expected last season) was the environment, the locker room that we had. It was created through people with (the front office) staff, with the coaching staff and with the players we brought in. The character as human beings, and the level of players that we had, we just thought it was a good fit with everybody. That’s one thing that we want to make sure we keep here, but also keep continuing to develop our young guys, who we think are talented young players.
We want to see what those guys’ ceilings are. It’s continuing to put players with them that can continue to help them grow, develop and reach their potential. That’s one thing we try to be as cognizant as possible of, which is something at times that can be challenging. Of course, you want to continue to get better, but we’re very aware of what the timing of that is. We want our guys to continue to develop and at least get close to their ceiling or potential. Then maybe at that point is when we realize, OK, what is the proper player fit for these guys when it’s time to really go?
I don’t think we truly understand who our players can be at this point. I just think it’s too early for us to truly understand what the best way to press the proverbial gas pedal is right now. So, we’re gonna try to be patient with that and let our young guys continue to develop.
In the process of figuring out the young core and constructing the roster around them, especially a year after the worst season in franchise history, what challenges did you face in cultivating this culture? It seems to be similar to the culture the city and team identified with years ago.
Understanding it’s not just the players you bring in, it’s the staff members you bring in. It’s the coaches and their staff that you bring in. It’s how you want your place to feel every day. You want it to be supportive. You want everybody to feel that they’re a part of the success or failure every day. … It’s everybody. They have to feel every day that they’re being supported and they have the resources that allow them to be the best possible versions of themselves. We were all very thoughtful about the players and the people we brought into our building that we wanted to be part of the Pistons organization.
That was the foundation I wanted to build. I think we started; I don’t think we achieved that fully, but I thought we got off to a good start. That’s something that’s not a destination. It’s something that’s continually evolving. We got off to a good start, and we brought some more good people into the building this summer. But we’ll continue to evaluate, assess and try to continue to get better in that respect. It’s creating a style of competitive basketball with people who want to win, and hold each other accountable doing that. I thought we had a really good group that did that last season, and hopefully we can continue that and take another step this season.
The last time you spoke to local reporters as a group, we discussed potential extensions for Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey. Are you expecting either of them to sign before the season starts? Or is there a chance you think one or both go into the season without signing extensions?
I’ll never speak to that. We’re happy to have them as Pistons, and we’ll continue to help them be the best possible versions of themselves and reach their potential.
I thought (Duren) had a tremendous year last season, especially in the second half when we made the run. And (Ivey) got off to a great start before getting injured. We’re excited to have them both back at the start of this season.
You’ve been creative in your deal-making. Before the deadline, you were able to waive Paul Reed and later re-sign him once he cleared waivers. I believe it upped your salary spending by about $4 million at the time. Two of the three players you acquired this summer were brought in through sign-and-trades, although the compensation you got in return varied from a player to a trade exception in those cases. Where do you feel you are best in your role?
I came up through the Spurs organization as a scout. I’m a big basketball fan. I grew up watching as much college and pro basketball as I could in Alaska. I just always enjoyed evaluating talent and watching it. I played high-level college basketball and watched a ton of it when I played. I was in the NBA for a few years, watched and evaluated everybody that I played against and played with — and same thing over in Europe.
I think I have a pretty good feel of what works and what doesn’t in terms of what’s difficult to guard and how teams fit together. Chemistry is something that’s difficult to find. I’ve been around and been a part of really good teams and been in some good organizations. I’ve been blessed to get that as my start. Seeing a championship team in San Antonio and part of a championship team in Cleveland, you see those teams built and what they look like and what they feel like — what they have on the roster, the balance, not only basketball-wise, but character-wise in leadership — and you kind of start understanding how those are put together that are successful.
By no means do I have the answer, but I think I have some insight into how these rosters have been put together in the past and try to lean on my understanding of what’s worked in the past to formulate these teams going forward. We have a lot of good pieces and a lot of good people, so we’re fortunate with that. Just trying to put the best possible rosters together with the pieces we have. I have really good people with me. I have a good scouting staff. I have a good performance department. I have a really good cap-strategy group, too — which has allowed us to make those moves that we have — that I think have set us up for some success going forward.
The recent deals you’ve made to bring players in, it’s consistently a one-to-three-year range with options for the team. What benefits and flexibility come with those shorter-term contracts in today’s collective bargaining agreement?
Having optionality with your group, that’s all it is at the end of the day. You can’t predict how your team’s going to be from year to year. You want to make sure that if it’s going well, you can continue. Or, if there’s a way that you can get better, you want to be able to pivot. That’s how it is with us and not getting locked into something that you can’t get out of if it doesn’t go well. That’s always a difficult thing, for every team, for every organization, for every decision maker, because you can go either way. If you have a really good player that you don’t lock in long-term and then he leaves … well, that’s on you.
If you lock into a player that you think is going to be at a certain level and he’s not, then it can go that way, too. It’s always a fine line in making these decisions and determining what’s the best path to go down with the length and the terms of these contracts.
With a player like Ausar Thompson, this will be his first real offseason since being in the league. What are your expectations for him now that he’s having a full offseason to refine his skill set?
Ausar didn’t have a full summer last year, so we’re excited he’s going to have a full summer of getting in the gym, working on his strength and getting stronger. (He’s) getting more stable, getting more agile on the floor, working on his skill, working the shot. He’s going to be more ready coming into camp. He wasn’t even able to have a camp last year, either.
The continuity of finishing one season, having a summer and going right into the next season with everybody else (will be beneficial). He couldn’t even train with his teammates last year during the summer, the preseason or roughly the first 20 games, so that is going to be an advantage for him. It’ll be an advantage for us.
I spoke with Duncan Robinson about his resilience, and he said he feels it’s a skill that’s honed the same way you hone your jumper or work on your dribbling and reads. Caris LeVert has had to overcome injuries early on in his career to carve out a role he’s maintained over 10 seasons. Chaz Lanier had to claw to play college ball at Tennessee, and once he got there, he thrived. How do you think the resilience of the players you’re bringing in contributes to helping shape the mentality and culture of the roster?
I know Duncan isn’t viewed as the toughest player in the world because he’s not physical, but I do think there is a mental toughness and resilience he has had throughout his career in terms of (attending Division III) Williams (College) to Michigan to undrafted to spending time in Sioux Falls (in the G League) and getting a two-way (contract) to a roster spot to being rotational. (Even) playing on teams that went to the (NBA) Finals not only in the bubble but also down the line when they went from the eighth seed to the finals on those Jimmy Butler-led teams. There’s a resilience in him as a player.
Caris, we drafted when I was in Brooklyn in 2016, fighting through an injury and coming off not only that broken foot in the draft process but a gruesome ankle injury, as well. Great young man, kind person off the floor, but as competitive as they come between the lines. With Chaz, going from North Florida and only averaging four or five points his sophomore year, then (his) last year in Tennessee and being one of the best guards in one of the best conferences in the country.
There’s something to be said when you have to have a level of resilience in this league. It’s a very tough league. You could have a tough game, and you’ve got to play the next night against a really good player. You have to be able to bounce back right away. We’re looking for high-character individuals who have toughness and resilience to be a part of winning, because you have to be able to have that mindset on an every-night basis. It’s not going to go your way every night, but what are you gonna contribute on those nights? We feel that was an important piece for the quality of individuals we’re bringing in here.
We know gambling has become more intertwined with the NBA and other professional sports through sponsorships and partnerships. What protocols are in place to make sure players abide by league rules, and how does the organization go about encouraging overall financial literacy with players?
Both topics are obviously very important to us, and the NBA is constantly educating players and all employees on gambling and the no-tolerance policies that come with that. In terms of financial literacy, we have to be careful with the information we do give them, because it is their money once we give it to them. If you steer them down one path like investing, you do take risks, so we can’t give them insight into how they invest their money.
That’s just not our job to do; although, we would like to help them and make sure they have (their money) for the rest of their lives and (make sure) they’re making the right decisions. That’s more of a (players association) initiative than a team initiative, and we do provide opportunities for them to become educated through that type of programming.
What does success look like in a perfect world for this team next season?
I’ve always said success is being better in January than you were in October. And being better in April than you were in January. And, hopefully, playing your best basketball in April. Hopefully, that leads into the playoffs.
Every team is different. You’re going to have a baseline when you start a camp on day one in October, and you’re going to be whatever that is then. Hopefully, you’re better than that in January, as you start to implement offensive and defensive schemes. You start coming together as a team and competing. Individually, all your players get better, and as a team, you’re better month to month and playing your best basketball in April.
So for us, that’s success. I’m not going to throw out win-and-loss numbers. Of course, you want to be better than you were last year. All of our guys want that. They want to be pushing for the playoffs again, and you want to be as healthy as you can be when that time comes.
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(Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images)