The Detroit Pistons and New Orleans Pelicans have plenty in common these days.
Both are long-suffering franchises trying to climb out of the trenches, which the Pistons did this season after missing the playoffs for six years. It was a combination of poor choices, bad draft picks and injuries that got them there, something they hope is finally over.
The Pelicans have suffered a similar fate even though they’ve had some stacked rosters over the years, but constant injuries to their key players have kept the Pels from ever reaching their potential.
The two crossed over again last summer when New Orleans’ GM Trajan Langdon was poached by the Pistons to be their president of basketball operations, a move that immediately paid dividends for Detroit, as Langdon made additions to the core he inherited that helped propel them to where they are.
Several coaches and front-office personnel came with him, so Detroit has plenty of NOLA influence in their current front office and coaching staff.
Now the same can be said of New Orleans, who recently announced the firing of long-time head of basketball operations David Griffin, who had some home runs in the draft, but was ultimately undone by his team’s inability to stay healthy.
They also announced the hiring of Pistons’ legend Joe Dumars to take over his job, and he will have his hands full with an organization that seems to be cursed.
Joe Dumars has a tall task in New Orleans
I hate that some fans in Detroit continue to malign Joe Dumars, as he is arguably the greatest or at least most important Piston of all time.
He was the only person involved in all three title teams, the first two as part of one of the greatest backcourts of all time and the third as an executive who pieced together the Goin’ to Work team.
Yes, he made some errors by drafting Darko Milicic and trading Chauncey Billups, but he owned those mistakes and the positive he brought to Detroit vastly outweighed the negative.
Dumars will now have a much more difficult task in New Orleans, as the team has never enjoyed much success and has some glaring problems.
The first is that their best player is never healthy. Zion Williamson has held the Pelicans hostage for six years by only playing 30+ games twice in that span.
You can blame his physique, his lack of focus or just plain bad luck but it doesn’t matter, if your best and top paid player is never available, your team is not going to be good.
Hardly anyone in New Orleans was healthy this season, including Brandon Ingram, Herb Jones, Dejounte Murray and of course Zion, which quickly submarined a season in which the Pels were supposed to at least compete for a playoff spot.
Joe D’s first order of business will be to trade Zion according to recent reports, and before you get any ideas, I would bet large sums of money that Trajan Langdon wants nothing to do with that nightmare again, so don’t expect any Zion trades to Detroit.
Trading Zion isn’t going to be easy, even if the Pels give him away, as you’d still have a big salary to match.
The caveat is that not all of Zion’s contract is guaranteed and he still has loads of talent, so some desperate team will almost certainly roll the dice this summer. My bet is on the Charlotte Hornets or maybe even the Dallas Mavericks, both teams who need star power for different reasons.
Zion will be one of the available stars this summer that the Pistons should avoid, so don’t expect any hometown favors from Joe Dumars or a reunion between Zion and Trajan Langdon.
I wish Joe Dumars and the Pelicans luck, as they have good fans that deserve better than what they’ve been given and I will always cheer for the small-market teams, especially ones that have a Pistons’ legend at the helm.