NBA pundits spent the offseason telling the Detroit Pistons that they needed to get a second star to put next to Cade Cunningham, but Trajan Langdon stayed patient and avoided the big move. And he was right.
But that hasn’t stopped the criticism, even after a 13-2 start, as there are some who just won’t let this issue die. A recent article in Bleacher Report named “not getting a co-star for Cade Cunningham” as Detroit’s biggest offseason regret.
I'll have to respectfully disagree with our friends at B/R.
I am not sure how much more the Pistons need to do to prove that assessment wrong, but even if you still believe the Pistons are lacking star power, Langdon was smart to be patient. His best move last summer was the one he didn’t make.
Detroit Pistons: Continuity, chemistry and depth
I’m going on record right now as saying I am firmly in the “let them cook” camp until further notice, as I don’t think the Pistons need a big trade to compete for the Eastern Conference.
They’ve been running through teams with their backups and emergency bench guys, so I at least need to see this team at or near full strength before I start declaring that they need a second star.
I don’t think many of these pundits actually watch the Pistons, or they’d see that the second star is emerging before their eyes in Jalen Duren, who has arguably been the best center in the East this season and just turned 22 years old.
Along with Ausar Thompson and Cade Cunningham, the Pistons have a trio that should be the envy of the league.
My second point is that people always talk about “adding a second star” but neglect to mention how that was going to happen. Who exactly were the Pistons going to trade last offseason to get their star?
Jaden Ivey was hurt, so it’s doubtful anyone was going to make him the centerpiece of a trade. The Pistons are high on 20-year-old Ron Holland, their next best trade asset, who is not a guy who is going to land a star in a trade on his own.
Cade and Ausar were already untouchable, so who exactly was going to be in this star trade? Duren? That would have been a setback.
The star the Pistons need may already be on the team, and even if you believe they still need to find another scoring option, they have Jaden Ivey returning soon and still have all of the same assets to make a trade if necessary, only now they are doing it with more information at their disposal.
The top two teams in the NBA right now are the OKC Thunder and the Detroit Pistons, two teams that have mostly built through the draft and have resisted the urge to cash in their trade assets for a big name and instead are leaning on depth, which is increasingly important in the apron/injury era.
The Pistons don’t regret anything. They leaned into depth, chemistry and continuity, which have proven to be more important than a star name on a piece of paper.