Pistons news: Assassin, bust, champion and front office savior

Trajan Langdon’s body of work has been under a microscope since he agreed to take the reins of the Detroit Pistons. What type of moves did he make during his time with Brooklyn or New Orleans? Which type of player did he covet and often seek out? How does he normally build out his coaching staff? 

Every type of move was examined to try and see what type of President of Basketball Operations he would be. But how about Trajan Langdon as a player? What was the Alaskan Assassin like back then? And could that bleed over into how he runs this organization?

Trajan Langdon’s High School Career

As a high school player, Langdon was a 6-foot-3 McDonald's All-American guard who showed composure, and skills from a young age. Langdon would eventually become Alaska’s first five star recruit, and committed to travel as far across the country as possible to play for Hall of Fame Coach Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils. 

He is so heralded in his home state, that they named a yearly award after him as a thank you for putting Alaska basketball on the map. 

Langdon’s Collegiate Career

Once moving down to the lower 48 and beginning his career for the Blue Devils, Langdon excelled. Playing in 31 games, starting 24 of them, Trajan finished his freshman year averaging 11.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and .5 stocks while shooting 47 percent from the field, and 43 percent from three.

He would improve each season, eventually finishing his senior year averaging 17.3, 3.4, 1.9, 1.5, 50 percent from two, and 44 percent from three. When it was all said and done, Langdon’s accolades were nothing short of impressive. He was a three-time All-ACC selection and a second-team All-American as both a junior and senior, NCAA All-Tournament team, 2x NCAA All-Region team, and finally All-ACC Tourney team in 1998. 

As more proof of his athleticism and abilities, he even played minor league baseball for the San Diego Padres during his summers off from school. 

Trajan Langdon Professionally

It was all his collegiate success that would get Langdon drafted 11th overall in the 1999 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, becoming the first Alaskan to play in the NBA. Even with a decorated career at Duke and being known as a tenacious, elite sharp shooter, Langdon never caught on in the NBA. He would only play three seasons with the Cavs, averaging 5.4 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists on 14 minutes per game across 119 career NBA games.

After his three short seasons in the NBA, he decided to go overseas and would excel in professional leagues in Italy, Turkey, and Russia. During his first season overseas, Langdon averaged 15.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and shot 44 percent from deep. In 2010-11, with CSKA Moscow, Trajan shot an insane 51 percent from deep across 19 games. 

“Probably still best remembered by casual NBA fans as just another lottery bust from Duke, all Trajan Langdon has done since then is win win and then win some more at the highest level of competition of European basketball. In Europe he'll be remembered as one of the smartest and most productive American players of this generation, but unfortunately for NBA fans he never had a chance to redeem himself in his home country and show how much playing for a coach like Ettore Messina helped him become a more complete player.”

-Jonathan Givony, DraftExpress

“Trajan Langdon proved again to be one of the premier shooters on the Old Continent. He nearly became the hero of the final by converting consecutive and contested long-range jumpers with the game on the line to keep CSKA alive until the very last minute. His stroke is a beauty, although he is perhaps a bit one dimensional. He only slashes occasionally and he’s a solid defender. Still, a terrific player by Euroleague standards.”

-Luis Fernandaz with DraftExpress in 2007

Trajan was eventually Euroleague Champion with CSKA Moscow in 2006 and 2008, and was named to the Euroleague All-Decade Team in 2010.

Langdon in the front office

At every level of competition, high school, college, NBA and then professionally overseas, Langdon was always the same player. Even when he was struggling in the NBA, his numbers showed his strengths. He was an extremely smart, composed player who’s work ethic was top-notch and could light it up from deep. 

We’ve seen the composure from him with Detroit thus far, as he is extremely stoic and laid back during press conferences. His smarts have already been put on display as well with his ability to add veteran help while also gaining assets. Let’s hope his shooting skills also somehow translate to this roster.