Trajan Langdon nailed his first assignment as new team president of the Detroit Pistons, which was to take an awful team and make them competitive.
He did that and then some, as Detroit went from a laughingstock to a team that took the heavily favored Knicks to six tough games in the playoffs in just one offseason.
The next task will be adding to the roster without taking away too much of what made them good this season. That includes trying to keep their own free agents without overpaying and finding team-friendly extension numbers for Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren that they are happy with.
Losing Jaden Ivey was the biggest what-if of the season for the Pistons, as they desperately needed his scoring and ability to break down a defense in the playoffs.
Conversely, the Pistons took off as a team when Ivey went out with that injury and was replaced in the starting lineup by Ausar Thompson, who now has to be viewed as the Pistons’ second-most important young player along with Cade Cunningham
Ivey is still an important piece of the puzzle and a guy the Pistons should want to extend this summer, and if Langdon can nail this deal, it will help to make this year’s success sustainable.
How much is too much for Jaden Ivey?
As much as the Pistons missed Ivey in the playoffs, we can’t ignore the fact that they made it there without him.
That certainly doesn’t mean they’re a better team without Ivey, that’s ridiculous, but it should impact the way the Pistons view him as a long-term piece.
Every second contract in the NBA involves some amount of faith, as we are talking about young players who have not hit their primes, but the Pistons can mitigate that risk by giving Ivey an extension based on what he has done rather than what he might do.
He’s an electric guard who can get his own shot and made huge strides as a 3-point shooter this season, but he’s yet to prove he can do that for a full year, and his defense is still suspect. There’s also the fact that he’s coming off a serious injury and the Pistons won’t get to see him play in live action before the extension deadline.
Given that risk, the Pistons can’t give Ivey anywhere near a max deal and should probably be looking closer to the Isaiah Stewart range as a starting point. If Langdon can secure Ivey for the next four years at a bargain rate, it will make team building so much easier, as the Pistons would potentially be getting value All-Star impact over time.
The opposite is also true. If the Pistons pay Ivey like their second star before he’s really proven that he is, it could backfire, and they are stuck in an Atlanta Hawks’ situation where they’ve overpaid a good role player.
This contract will help define the Langdon era, and the one positive that came out of his injury (from the team’s perspective) is that they have more leverage going into negotiations.
There is always the chance the two sides won’t be able to come to an agreement and Ivey will just play out his contract and hit restricted free agency, which wouldn’t be the worst outcome, as the Pistons would at least have another year to analyze.
Ivey on the right deal could end up being huge for the Pistons, but on the wrong deal, it’s potentially devastating to their financial flexibility.