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If the Detroit Pistons got worse this offseason, then their three best players didn’t get better.
And if they didn't get better in June, July and August, the Pistons aren’t going anywhere in April and May anyway.
Scoff all you want. But Trey Murphy III isn't changing that. LeBron James isn't changing that. Even Kawhi Leonard wasn’t changing that.
Well, maybe Leonard would change that. But not even Leonard – still headed back to Toronto, pending the NBA's investigation into his extra compensation in LA – would take last season's version of Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren to the NBA Finals this June. (Yes, we’re assuming Jalen Duren will be back.)
That version of those three wasn’t ready to play for a title, and if they come back just the same, they won’t be this season either.
OMARI SANKOFA II: Pistons have something to prove in tougher East after summer of change
Whatever else we know about Trajan Langdon, we can assume he knows that. Mostly because the Pistons' president of baseball operations implied it during his season-ending media availability.
We can also assume that as he thought about his team and its needs this offseason, he thought about the last 2½ minutes of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Those 150 seconds not only changed the direction of the Pistons’ postseason but defined it. More on them in a moment.
First, back to Leonard, and Langdon’s reported pursuit of a proven second scorer.
Banking on Leonard to stay healthy for consecutive seasons is a gamble; even last season, he appeared in just 65 games. And that was his second-most since playing 74 in 2016-17. Still, that gamble was one Langdon was reportedly willing to make, if Leonard had been interested in coming to Detroit (and the Clippers didn't insist the Pistons gut their team to pay for the trade).
But Leonard wasn’t interested. Langdon moved on.
Fault Langdon, if you must, for not finding a way to add a proven second scorer to the Pistons roster.
But don’t be surprised. Not because he’s afraid to deal – or afraid to win. And not because he’s been infected with some imaginary bug that leaves only Detroit sports execs unable to swing big trades.
No, don’t be surprised because Langdon told us as much in May after the Pistons lost to the Cavaliers in six games in the second round of the NBA playoffs. He knew his team needed to get better. He said the improvement would have to come from outside and from the inside.
MORE FROM SHAWN WINDSOR: Ebuka Okorie has promise for Pistons, but he needs to get stronger
Believe it or not, that’s a real strategy – and one employed by a majority of the Association’s most recent champs. For six of the past seven seasons – with only the New York Knicks as outliers – the last team standing banked on its best guys improving and smart role-player additions to get it over the top.
Oklahoma City, for example, needed more toughness and veteran leadership after the Thunder lost to Dallas in 2024's second round. Denver needed more perimeter defense and shooting. Boston needed rim protection. Golden State needed depth – and size. You get the idea.
All of these teams had made the playoffs for a couple (or more) years, and all of them built on young cores and tweaked the fringes depending on specific needs.
None of them took big swings. They took savvy swings.
(The Knicks, of course, went bold. It worked. Theirs isn’t the only way, only the most recent.)
As for the Pistons' needs? That’s clear: shooting, more shooting and ballhandling. So far, they’ve arguably added those in players such as John Collins, Isaiah Joe and Ebuka Okorie. Whether it is enough depends on the improvement of Cunningham, Thompson and Duren.
Now, let’s get back to those minutes last May, to Rocket Arena in Cleveland, to the moment when Cade Cunningham had the ball in his hands near midcourt, attempting an inbounds pass with 2:32 left in the fourth, the score tied and the Pistons leading the Cavs, 2-0, in the East semis.
There was Max Strus, Cleveland’s hyperactive role player guarding Cunningham, waving his arms in the air, trying to bother the Pistons’ star in a must-win game for the Cavaliers.
Cunningham tried to throw the ball over the top. Strus leapt. Caught the ball. Raced toward his team’s rim. And laid it in, giving Cleveland a 104-102 lead.
On the Pistons' next possession, Cunningham turned it over again, this time after throwing a soft pass to a rolling Jalen Duren, which Jarrett Allen easily intercepted.
Detroit forced Donovan Mitchell to miss. Cunningham eventually came up with the rebound, dribbled up the court, indecisively drove into the paint, left his feet, realized he had nowhere to go and tried to flip a pass to Tobias Harris on the right wing. Harris barely caught the ball, but his momentum carried him out of bounds.
Three straight Cunningham-driven turnovers.
Perhaps you’ve forgotten. Langdon has not.
Nor has he forgotten about Strus leaping to make the steal when the Pistons had the chance to take the lead. A Pistons basket in that possession instead, and, well, who knows? NBA playoff games are lost and won a hundred times in the last few minutes.
Momentum gathers quickly in that space, when the legs get heavy and the noise begins to suffocate. If Cunningham inbounds the ball and his team finds a bucket, perhaps the legs grow spry again. Maybe they win. If they do, Cleveland almost certainly collapses in Game 4, the Pistons sweep and are rested before facing the Knicks in the conference finals.
Now, they weren’t beating the Knicks. But they weren’t getting swept, either. Matchups matter too much in the NBA.
Lose in six or seven games to the defending champs and all of sudden the Pistons don’t look so far away. All of a sudden, the offseason feels different – the experts are suggesting the roster needs slight tweaks, and that the youngsters need more time.
This may not be your strategy or even my strategy, but it’s a strategy, and it’s far from foolhardy. Langdon – at least for now, and at least until the trade deadline in February – is pushing everything he’s got into the middle of the table, betting on his three best players getting better.
If they do, the Pistons will contend. If they don’t, Langdon will have to answer for that.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trajan Langdon has a plan for Pistons, and he'll have to answer for it
Continue reading...
And if they didn't get better in June, July and August, the Pistons aren’t going anywhere in April and May anyway.
Scoff all you want. But Trey Murphy III isn't changing that. LeBron James isn't changing that. Even Kawhi Leonard wasn’t changing that.
Well, maybe Leonard would change that. But not even Leonard – still headed back to Toronto, pending the NBA's investigation into his extra compensation in LA – would take last season's version of Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren to the NBA Finals this June. (Yes, we’re assuming Jalen Duren will be back.)
That version of those three wasn’t ready to play for a title, and if they come back just the same, they won’t be this season either.
You must be registered for see images attach
OMARI SANKOFA II: Pistons have something to prove in tougher East after summer of change
Whatever else we know about Trajan Langdon, we can assume he knows that. Mostly because the Pistons' president of baseball operations implied it during his season-ending media availability.
We can also assume that as he thought about his team and its needs this offseason, he thought about the last 2½ minutes of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Those 150 seconds not only changed the direction of the Pistons’ postseason but defined it. More on them in a moment.
First, back to Leonard, and Langdon’s reported pursuit of a proven second scorer.
Banking on Leonard to stay healthy for consecutive seasons is a gamble; even last season, he appeared in just 65 games. And that was his second-most since playing 74 in 2016-17. Still, that gamble was one Langdon was reportedly willing to make, if Leonard had been interested in coming to Detroit (and the Clippers didn't insist the Pistons gut their team to pay for the trade).
But Leonard wasn’t interested. Langdon moved on.
Fault Langdon, if you must, for not finding a way to add a proven second scorer to the Pistons roster.
But don’t be surprised. Not because he’s afraid to deal – or afraid to win. And not because he’s been infected with some imaginary bug that leaves only Detroit sports execs unable to swing big trades.
No, don’t be surprised because Langdon told us as much in May after the Pistons lost to the Cavaliers in six games in the second round of the NBA playoffs. He knew his team needed to get better. He said the improvement would have to come from outside and from the inside.
MORE FROM SHAWN WINDSOR: Ebuka Okorie has promise for Pistons, but he needs to get stronger
Betting on youth is pretty common for champs
Believe it or not, that’s a real strategy – and one employed by a majority of the Association’s most recent champs. For six of the past seven seasons – with only the New York Knicks as outliers – the last team standing banked on its best guys improving and smart role-player additions to get it over the top.
Oklahoma City, for example, needed more toughness and veteran leadership after the Thunder lost to Dallas in 2024's second round. Denver needed more perimeter defense and shooting. Boston needed rim protection. Golden State needed depth – and size. You get the idea.
All of these teams had made the playoffs for a couple (or more) years, and all of them built on young cores and tweaked the fringes depending on specific needs.
None of them took big swings. They took savvy swings.
(The Knicks, of course, went bold. It worked. Theirs isn’t the only way, only the most recent.)
You must be registered for see images
As for the Pistons' needs? That’s clear: shooting, more shooting and ballhandling. So far, they’ve arguably added those in players such as John Collins, Isaiah Joe and Ebuka Okorie. Whether it is enough depends on the improvement of Cunningham, Thompson and Duren.
Now, let’s get back to those minutes last May, to Rocket Arena in Cleveland, to the moment when Cade Cunningham had the ball in his hands near midcourt, attempting an inbounds pass with 2:32 left in the fourth, the score tied and the Pistons leading the Cavs, 2-0, in the East semis.
There was Max Strus, Cleveland’s hyperactive role player guarding Cunningham, waving his arms in the air, trying to bother the Pistons’ star in a must-win game for the Cavaliers.
Cunningham tried to throw the ball over the top. Strus leapt. Caught the ball. Raced toward his team’s rim. And laid it in, giving Cleveland a 104-102 lead.
On the Pistons' next possession, Cunningham turned it over again, this time after throwing a soft pass to a rolling Jalen Duren, which Jarrett Allen easily intercepted.
Detroit forced Donovan Mitchell to miss. Cunningham eventually came up with the rebound, dribbled up the court, indecisively drove into the paint, left his feet, realized he had nowhere to go and tried to flip a pass to Tobias Harris on the right wing. Harris barely caught the ball, but his momentum carried him out of bounds.
Three straight Cunningham-driven turnovers.
Perhaps you’ve forgotten. Langdon has not.
Nor has he forgotten about Strus leaping to make the steal when the Pistons had the chance to take the lead. A Pistons basket in that possession instead, and, well, who knows? NBA playoff games are lost and won a hundred times in the last few minutes.
Momentum gathers quickly in that space, when the legs get heavy and the noise begins to suffocate. If Cunningham inbounds the ball and his team finds a bucket, perhaps the legs grow spry again. Maybe they win. If they do, Cleveland almost certainly collapses in Game 4, the Pistons sweep and are rested before facing the Knicks in the conference finals.
Now, they weren’t beating the Knicks. But they weren’t getting swept, either. Matchups matter too much in the NBA.
Lose in six or seven games to the defending champs and all of sudden the Pistons don’t look so far away. All of a sudden, the offseason feels different – the experts are suggesting the roster needs slight tweaks, and that the youngsters need more time.
This may not be your strategy or even my strategy, but it’s a strategy, and it’s far from foolhardy. Langdon – at least for now, and at least until the trade deadline in February – is pushing everything he’s got into the middle of the table, betting on his three best players getting better.
If they do, the Pistons will contend. If they don’t, Langdon will have to answer for that.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trajan Langdon has a plan for Pistons, and he'll have to answer for it
Continue reading...
