New Detroit Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon: What you need to know
The new leader of the Detroit Pistons organization is here.
The Pistons hired former New Orleans Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon as the franchise's new president of basketball operations to oversee all aspects of the team on Thursday. The hire comes a month after the Pistons announced a formal search for a new president to try to right the ship after finishing with the worst record in franchise history, 14-68, in 2023-24.
Langdon joins the Pistons after serving as the Pelicans GM since 2019. Before then, Langdon worked as an assistant GM for the Brooklyn Nets, the Cleveland Cavaliers front office briefly, and was a scout for the San Antonio Spurs. He got involved in scouting following a professional basketball career that lasted over a decade in the NBA and overseas after a standout collegiate career at Duke.
Here are some fast facts to know about the Pistons' new president of basketball operations:
The Alaskan Assassin
There are a lot of good nicknames scattered throughout the basketball reference website, but Langdon's nickname could contend for a top spot. He was known as "the Alaskan Assassin" because he grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, going down as one of the best players, if not the best player, in state history and the first player from the state to be drafted into the NBA. He was a three-time state champion and state player of the year for Anchorage East High School, going down as a hall of famer.
His standout high school career led to him becoming the first Alaskan to become a McDonald's All-American in 1994, where he won the 3-point shooting contest. He was heavily recruited and ultimately chose Duke across the country. He played five seasons for the Blue Devils and set the career 3-point record (later broken by J.J. Redick), where he first earned the Alaskan Assassin name. As an All-American, Langdon senior helped lead Duke to the 1999 NCAA title game, knocking off MSU in the Final 4, but committed a traveling violation with five seconds left down 1 that led to a UConn national title.
Pro career
He was drafted 11th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1999 NBA draft and played three seasons in the NBA before going overseas where he enjoyed a successful Euroleague career.
He bounced between teams between 2002 and 2005 until he landed on CSKA Moscow, where he stayed until he retired in 2011. He helped lead CSKA Moscow to six Russian League titles and two Euroleague titles in 2006 and 2008. He was a finals MVP and Russian league MVP in 2008, and was a three-time All-Euroleague player. He was also named to the All-Euroleague All-Decade team for 2000-2010.
After he retired, Langdon joined the Spurs in 2012 as a scout and stayed there until 2015. He joined the Cavaliers for a year as the director of player administration and basketball operations before joining the Brooklyn Nets as an assistant GM, where he also served as the GM of the G-league team.
Pelicans tenure
He got the opportunity to become a GM for the Pelicans in May 2019 where he worked along with Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin. He was officially hired days after the franchise won the lottery and selected Zion Williamson No. 1 overall. He was brought in during Anthony Davis' demands to leave, which was facilitated with a trade in July 2019 that sent three first-round picks plus Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and Brandon Ingram to New Orleans.
Since 2020, the Pelicans' first-round draft picks have been Kira Lewis Jr. (who was traded to Indiana in January) at 13 in 2020, Trey Murphy III at 17 in 2021 after trading down, Dyson Daniels at 8 in 2022 and Jordan Hawkins at 14 in 2023. They also hit on Herb Jones, a first-team All-Defense forward, in the second round of 2021. In addition to the draft history, the Pelicans swung a trade to bring in C.J. McCollum and Larry Nance Jr. from Portland in exchange for Hart, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and a protected pick.
The Pelicans made the playoffs two out of the last three seasons but were bounced in the first round. This year, they were quickly swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons' new top executive Trajan Langdon: 3 things to know
