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Pistons moving to hire Trajan Langdon as new president of basketball operations

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Pistons moving to hire Trajan Langdon as new president of basketball operations

The Pistons’ front-office shakeup will bring a new team leader.

Mired in a funk of five straight losing seasons, the team is planning to hire Trajan Langdon as the new president of basketball operations, a league source confirmed Thursday to The Detroit News. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was first to report the Pistons’ plan to hire Langdon.

For the past five seasons, Langdon has been the general manager of the New Orleans Pelicans and is set to move into the new role that the Pistons announced last month that they intended to incorporate into a revamped structure.

The Pistons’ front office has been without a president of basketball operations since the team parted ways with Stan Van Gundy following the 2017-18 season. At the time, Van Gundy had a unique dual role of head coach and team president.

In the years since, the Pistons have had Troy Weaver as general manager since 2020. Prior to that, Ed Stefanski was a senior advisor to team owner Tom Gores.

Langdon, 48, is expected to bring a new perspective and approach to the Pistons, who posted a franchise-worst 14-68 mark this past season, the worst in the NBA for the second straight season. The high-water mark during that stretch was 23 wins in 2021-22. The last winning season was 2015-16, under Van Gundy, which ended with a four-game sweep to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In his five seasons as the Pelicans’ GM, Langdon established a reputation for his personnel moves and draft picks, while working with New Orleans team president David Griffin. Langdon also learned from his time with the Brooklyn Nets in his role as an assistant general manager under Sean Marks.

Among Langdon’s first big decisions with the Pistons will be plotting the course of the franchise, which includes determining what role Weaver will play in it, as well as the future of head coach Monty Williams, who signed a six-year deal worth about $78 million before last season.

“This past season has been incredibly difficult and frustrating for our fans, players and our entire organization,” Gores said in a team release last month announcing the intention to hire a team president. “We will continue to invest in our core group of young players and surround them with the right complementary talent.”

That core group centers on Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft. Any new roster moves would seem to have to complement Cunningham’s skill set, and the Pistons are in position to make some big roster changes this offseason. They have the No. 5 overall pick after falling in the NBA Draft lottery, but they have more than $60 million available under the salary cap to add some veterans and other talented players to the roster.

Of note, the Pelicans, who finished 49-33 this season — their most since notching 49 victories in 2008-09 — made strides this season. With Zion Williamson playing in a career-high 70 games this season, the Pelicans were on the upswing, and Langdon was instrumental in their turnaround.

The Pelicans were 30-42 in 2019-20 and the Pistons are looking to make a similar turnaround with their new front-office chief.

That included notable trades that brought C.J. McCollum in a deal with the Portland Trail Blazers and sending Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers — which brought Brandon Ingram, who was an All-Star in his first season in New Orleans.

Ingram, who is in the final year of his contract with the Pelicans, could be a trade target for the Pistons to bring an All-Star-caliber player to their roster to pair with Cunningham.

“I am committed to doing whatever it takes to build a winning team,” Gores said last month. “Nothing is off the table. As tough as this season has been, a bright future is available to us. It’s in our power to get this right, and we will. This is a pivotal summer for the Pistons.”

Rod.Beard@detroitnews.com

@detnewsRodBeard

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