It has not been a good offseason for the Detroit Pistons, and they are just getting started.
They fell to 5th in the NBA Draft again, a just reward for another awful season. The Pistons have also been stalled in their search for a new president of basketball operations, as they were reportedly denied an interview of Jon Horst by the Bucks and turned down by Neil Olshey, who was fired from his previous job for allegedly creating a toxic work environment. Nice one, Pistons.
According to James Edwards III of The Athletic (Subscription), the Pistons are still holding out longshot hope for Tim Connelly of the Timberwolves, who could opt out of his deal in Minnesota, though Edwards III speculated that it would take a boatload of money to lure him to Detroit. His team is also still battling in the playoffs, so if the Pistons are really waiting for Connelly, they may have to be patient with time not on their side.
Three other names emerged from the same source, Marc Eversley from the Bulls, Dennis Lindsey of the Mavericks and Trajan Langdon of the New Orleans Pelicans. Of these three, one stands out.
Marc Eversley
Eversley is currently the GM of the Chicago Bulls, which makes me want to stay far away. This is no offense to Eversley, who is a respected executive around the league, but the Bulls are arguably one of the only teams in the NBA who are worse off than the Pistons, as they are mediocre, old and have no way out of it. It certainly wasn't all on him, but I want no part of anyone that was involved in the Nikola Vucevic trade.
Dennis Lindsey
Lindsey was the GM of the Utah Jazz for nine years, six of which were winning seasons for Utah, so he does have experience building a winner in a mid-market environment. He made the hire of Quin Snyder, which turned out well for Utah and made some nice draft picks (Donovan Mitchell, who was technically a trade, Grayson Allen) even though he never had top picks.
Most recently he’s been an advisor to the Mavericks, so does have some experience helping a team that is building around a unique talent. Lindsey took the Jazz from a 25-win team to a team that won 50 or more three times in his tenure, so he does have some of the qualities the Pistons need.
Trajan Langdon
But the name that stands out to me is Trajan Langdon of the New Orleans Pelicans. He is currently the GM of the Pels and paid his dues to get there, first as a scout for the Spurs, then as assistant GM of the Brooklyn Nets.
He’s helped build an exciting young team in New Orleans through the trade of Anthony Davis to the Lakers that brought back Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and three first-round picks, a trade that helped rebuild the roster on the fly.
Possibly more importantly, Langdon is known for his eye for talent, finding Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III and Jose Alvarado all outside of the lottery. This is one area the Pistons have been a miserable failure, as they have yet to find any wings as good as Jones or TMIII even though they’ve been choosing at or near the top of the draft for the last four seasons.
TMIII was taken 17th, Jones was a second rounder and Alvarado wasn’t even drafted. The Pistons have found no gems under Troy Weaver and the jury is still out on all of his picks not named Cade Cunningham.
Detroit doesn’t have an Anthony Davis to trade but may have to work a big trade of one or more of their young players and need to hit on some draft picks to turn this around. At 48 years old, Langdon is young enough to grow with the team and be in the position long term, which also may appeal to the Detroit Pistons.