1 trade, 1 signing that could make the Pistons competitive next season

The Detroit Pistons have completed their first task of the offseason, which was to hire Trajan Langdon to finish the extensive work that needs to be done to fix this mess of a team.

While we wait patiently for decisions on Troy Weaver and Monty Williams, there is nothing to do but speculate what Langdon might do after he decides the fate of the front office and coaching staff. 

Judging by the team he helped build in New Orleans, Langdon could try to patch a weakness this offseason, which is the defense. 

Detroit Pistons: Fixing the defense 

When you win 14 games, the team obviously has more than one weakness, but if you had to point at the most glaring one, it would be the Pistons’ porous defense. 

They could address it with a rim protecting center in the draft or free agency, which could mean trading Jalen Duren, or they could add a veteran backup to compete for the spot. 

The Pistons could also lean into the perimeter, where they already have one quality defender in Ausar Thompson. 

The list of potential perimeter defenders is longer than the list of rim protecting centers, and there are two in particular who could help forge a new identity for the Detroit Pistons. 

It would take just two moves to get the Pistons back in contention, but the question is whether either of them will be possible. 

Let’s look at a potential trade and signing that could help make the Pistons competitive right away.