Detroit Pistons: Langston Galloway and an Uncertain Future with Detroit

Langston Galloway had a rocky season for the Detroit Pistons. His future with the Pistons is uncertain and will be in talk for months to come.

Langston Galloway and the Detroit Pistons have had a complicated floor relationship this season. The franchise, now comfortably planted in Little Caesar’s Arena, is tasked with the responsibility of constructing a roster that can not only make it to the NBA Playoffs, but compete upon arrival. Langston Galloway’s role on the floor was very specific when he arrived in Detroit.

The three-and-D guard was a fair three-point shooter who just spent his previous season mulling around in Sacramento as a piece of the famed DeMarcus Cousins trade to the New Orleans Pelicans. Galloway is not amongst the better defenders at his position, but his length allows him to guard the point position more fluently. Examining the 2018-19 NBA season, Langston Galloway has somewhat fulfilled that request – somewhat.

Langston Galloway signed his contract for three years and $21 million with the Detroit Pistons in 2017 after he declined an option that may have netted him a $5.434 million salary the following season with the Kings. In the 2018-19 NBA season, Galloway earned $7 million.

For a team with the sixth highest payroll this past year, the Detroit Pistons underperformed to say the least. Due to their cap restrictions, senior advisor Ed Stefanski and owner Tom Gores did not have a variety of circumstances to authorize. Things are tight for the Pistons, at least for another season. Hindsight aside, Galloway had moments this year that made that $7 million price tag worth it. He almost broke Detroit Pistons’ Terry Mills record for consecutive three-pointers made after hitting 12, falling a single long-shot short.

That streak doesn’t reflect Galloway’s up-and-down production throughout the year. Langston Galloway’s per 36 during the NBA Playoffs – the first of his career – dropped 2.8 points from the regular season and landed at 10.1 points with a 32.4 percent field-goal percentage. The Detroit Pistons had a tough-go against the Milwaukee Bucks, especially without Blake Griffin in tow for the first two meetings of the series.

Langston Galloway was one of the Detroit Pistons’ players expected to step up, both offensively and defensively. He was not someone they could depend on.
Is Langston Galloway a player the Detroit Pistons can include in their plans moving forward? Probably not. Well, scheme-wise, it is fair to assume Coach Dwane Casey can find a spot for Galloway in a role on the bench.

He is a capable defender and a willing scorer. Throughout the season, Langston showed his propensity to play within the offense and never force offense that wasn’t available to him. If he misses the shot, he misses the shot. More times than not, his options are within the flow of the floor.

Galloway’s problem is not in basketball IQ or pedigree, but in his lack of efficiency. His role with the team should be refined – and it will not demand a salary of $7 million a year. That’s the problem in considering a lengthy future for the Detroit Pistons that includes Langston Galloway. While the characteristics of his game may complement a bench unit that often starves for production, his skill set does not merit what he or the market will subsequently command.

Langston Galloway is a part of the Detroit Pistons’ story. Moving forward, Detroit may find themselves on the way to ending that chapter.