Cade Cunningham injury puts unforgiving spotlight on Trajan Langdon

Many fans and pundits were already criticizing Trajan Langdon for his lack of trade deadline moves, and that noise will only get louder now that Cade Cunningham is out for an extended period of time. 

In case you were on another planet yesterday, Cade Cunningham has been diagnosed with a collapsed lung, a scary injury that will keep him out for at least two weeks when he’ll be re-evaluated. 

I’ve already had some troll-scolds telling me I’m overreacting and that Cade will be back in two weeks, but that is only when he’ll be evaluated, and it would be a wildly optimistic timeline for his return.  

Cunningham could easily miss the rest of the regular season, and there are scenarios worse than that, so call it an overreaction, but it is what it is. 

One thing is certain, someone else is going to have to step up in his absence, and the Pistons will be leaning on some unlikely characters to carry them through this wrinkle in the plot, which will only increase the spotlight on Trajan Langdon’s inactivity. 

Trajan Langdon already coming under fire that will get worse 

Many fans and pundits thought the Pistons would make a splashy move at the deadline to add a second star. Trajan Langdon didn’t do that, and instead traded Jaden Ivey for Kevin Huerter in a move whose grade is still pending but not looking great. 

Huerter has been better of late, the Pistons will get a pick swap and are off Ivey’s cap hold, so the trade could end up working out well for the Pistons overall, but no one is going to mistake Huerter for a real second option. 

Fans are still complaining about this move or that that didn’t happen, but here are some things to remember: 

-The Pistons didn’t have enough big contracts to match up on marquee trade without giving up 3-4 players, which wasn’t going to work. 

-What star? There wasn’t a clear-cut upgrade out there that made sense for the Pistons, at least not one who was available. 

-Names like Lauri Markkanen, Trey Murphy III and Michael Porter Jr. were not nearly as available as fans wanted to believe on the trade machines. 

I’ve even heard some suggestions that the Pistons should have just kept Ivey and that he’d be the one they’d lean on now. Huh? Jaden Ivey is hurt and stunk all season before he was yanked. He had his chances and I wish him well, but Ivey was not going to save the Pistons. 

I do think Langdon could have done more at the deadline, but I do not think there was a second star out there who would have made a difference in Cade’s absence. 

He will eventually have to get that player, but I can’t kill him for not reaching at the trade deadline, especially when it’s not even clear there was anything to reach for. 

No savior is walking through that door, so the Pistons have to hope Cunningham returns in time for the playoffs and that Langdon can find more help in the offseason.