Trajan Langdon delivered back-to-back home runs for the Pistons

Finding impactful low-cost players is one of the most important parts of team building in the tax era, and Trajan Langdon has delivered for the Detroit Pistons. 

It’s not easy to fill out a deep roster in the NBA, as the tax rules make hoarding stars more difficult, and once you have a few highly paid players on the roster, it’s imperative to find low-cost balance at the bottom. 

Langdon nailed the assignment emphatically last season by signing Malik Beasley to a one-year deal for just $6 million that turned out to be the best value in the league. 

Beasley was a late signing who didn’t get much attention, but he was 2nd in the NBA in 3-pointers made last season and made a clear impact on the Pistons young roster. 

Langdon made the decision early not to disrupt the talented core he inherited, but to supplement them with the right types of veterans to complement their skills. Beasley was the big value last season, but the additions of Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr. were also important. 

This season, Javonte Green has played the role of Malik Beasley, and though he’s going to be a lead leader in anything, he’s provided important impact at a low cost. 

Javonte Green has been an important role player for the Pistons 

I keep waiting for Green to lose his spot in the rotation and we may have to keep waiting, as he keeps having impactful games, including last night, when he scored eight points in just 14 minutes, hit two of his three from long range and added three steals for a +13 +/- that led the team. 

Green, who was an afterthought signing just like Beasley, is playing crunch time minutes and helped seal the game last night with one of the highlights of the season when he ripped Payton Pritchard and took it coast to coast for a post dunk on Derrick White: 

Green is on a partially guaranteed contract that will only pay him $2.2 million if they have to pay it all, so that’s great value for a rotation player who is playing over 18 minutes a game and providing impact. 

If the Pistons are able to keep all or most of their young talent, they will have to continue to find players like Green, veterans who don’t mind doing the dirty work and can impact the game without making a max salary. 

Trajan Langdon has nailed this task so far, and it’s one of the big reasons the Pistons are in first place and still have as much financial flexibility as nearly any team in the league.