DETROIT — There's still a lot of uncertainty and mystery surrounding the Detroit Pistons.
The team is coming off the worst season in franchise history and is once again searching for a new manager, with no clear path to success and many question marks surrounding the roster outside of Cade Cunningham.
One thing owner Tom Gores is sure of is that he finally found the right front-office executive to lead the franchise, and Gores sees Trajan Langdon as not just president of basketball operations but CEO as well.
“After evaluating everything, we truly felt that a fresh start was the best choice for our organization,” Gores said Friday as the team formally introduced Langdon. “Our failures in the past have nothing to do with one person. We needed a fresh start and we needed Trajan to lead that fresh start.”
Langdon, who was general manager of the New Orleans Pelicans, replaced former general manager Troy Weaver as the franchise's chief executive after coach Monty Williams was fired this week with five years and $65 million remaining on his contract.
Former Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff, Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney, Timberwolves assistant Mika Noli and Pelicans assistant James Borrego are some of the candidates expected to interview for the head coaching position. With the draft coming up next week and free agency starting June 30, Langdon isn't sure when a new coach will be hired.
“I can't give you a timeline,” Langdon said of the coaching search.
Langdon will inherit an extremely young roster — the Pistons finished the season with 11 players under the age of 25 — and after a dismal 14-68 season, development will be a top priority for the next coach.
“As much as we want to win, we also want to develop our young players,” Gores said.
Chief among them is Cunningham, who averaged 22.7 points and 7.5 assists last season and is eligible for a rookie-scale contract extension this offseason.
The 48-year-old Langdon said he hoped to take some pressure off Cunningham by upgrading the supporting cast.
The Pistons potentially have $60 million or more in cap space to improve, and with many teams looking to shed payroll as part of the new collective bargaining agreement tax package, Langdon is open to making a trade that will help him in both the short and long term.
“Our goal with our cap space is to acquire deals and assets from other teams,” Langdon said. “We hope that the players that come in will help us develop.” [of the younger players]If we can combine those two things, we’ll have a successful summer.”
Three weeks into his tenure, Langdon has little to offer rebuild-weary fans: The Pistons haven't won a playoff series since 2008.
“I don't think there's a deadline for us to make the playoffs,” he said.
Gores hired Langdon not just for his basketball knowledge but for his overall leadership qualities, and Langdon was given full authority to run the day-to-day operations of the organization. One of the criticisms of the organizational structure in the past was that too many people listened to Gores.
“I am extremely confident that our partnership with Trajan will be successful and will help turn around our franchise,” Gores said.
