{"id":79734,"date":"2024-05-31T18:46:34","date_gmt":"2024-05-31T22:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=79734"},"modified":"2024-06-01T05:05:22","modified_gmt":"2024-06-01T09:05:22","slug":"pistons-trajan-langdon-in-troy-weaver-out-fans-rejoice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/31\/pistons-trajan-langdon-in-troy-weaver-out-fans-rejoice\/","title":{"rendered":"Trajan Langdon In, Troy Weaver Out; Pistons Fans Rejoice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you put your ear to the door of Detroit Pistons fans, you might hear anything from cheers to trumpets. Not only do they have a new president of basketball operations in Trajan Langdon, they\u2019re getting rid of general manager Troy Weaver.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Pistons make the hiring of Trajan Langdon officially official. Here are some quotes from owner Tom Gores and Langdon: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/G6wowQb0iA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/G6wowQb0iA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 James L. Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JLEdwardsIII\/status\/1796687742966849557?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 31, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Frankly, nobody knows much about Weaver in Detroit outside of the frustration he\u2019s caused with directionless team-building. However, that\u2019s really all that they need to know; his tenure with the Pistons could not have been any worse.<\/p>\n<h2>Trajan Langdon In, Troy Weaver Out<\/h2>\n<p>To start, the Pistons simply have not won much since hiring Weaver in 2020. After four seasons, they\u2019ve won total of 76 games with him as the grand architect. In 2023-24, they had their worst record of all-time. This after making Monty Williams the highest-paid coach in NBA history. Worst of all, they played that poorly while having four lottery picks healthy for most of the season.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, when taking in the full view of Weaver\u2019s tapestry, the biggest flaw is that it\u2019s full of missed opportunities.<\/p>\n<h3>Troy Weaver\u2019s Tapestry<\/h3>\n<p>Weaver\u2019s first major decision was drafting French point guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hayeski01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Killian Hayes<\/a> with the seventh overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Hayes\u2019s passing and defense kept him in the league much longer than his woeful shooting would have suggested. Nonetheless, at just 22 years old, Hayes is already all but out of the league.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/halibty01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyrese Haliburton<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/maxeyty01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyrese Maxey<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/banede01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Desmond Bane<\/a> \u2014star-caliber guards \u2014were all drafted after Hayes.<\/p>\n<p>Weaver\u2019s next big boy choice was to trade <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kennalu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luke Kennard<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brownbr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bruce Brown<\/a> for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/beysa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Saddiq Bey<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mcgruro01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rodney McGruder<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/handsja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaylen Hands<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/musadz01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">D\u017eanan Musa<\/a> in 2020. Kennard has led the league in 3-point percentage twice since being traded and has the third highest 3-point percentage (.439) of all-time. Brown was instrumental in the Denver Nuggets\u2019 championship run (2023).<\/p>\n<p>Bey and McGruder played no more than two full seasons with the Pistons. Hands and Musa never played for Detroit at all.<\/p>\n<p>In 2021, Weaver drafted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cunnica01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cade Cunningham<\/a>, a versatile point guard with natural leadership ability. This is undoubtedly the best choice he\u2019s made as general manager. Though Cunningham has been injury-prone and hasn\u2019t quite lived up to his potential, the former No. 1 pick is <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/10\/pistons-lottery-pick-cade-cunningham-bright-spot-bleak-rebuild\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">among the league\u2019s best players<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, rather than provide Cunningham with a sensible supporting cast, he surrounded him with players who couldn\u2019t shoot or wouldn\u2019t defend. Oftentimes, both.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, inconsistency at both ends has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/iveyja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaden Ivey<\/a>\u2019s issue since being drafted fifth overall in the 2022 NBA Draft. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/durenja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Duren<\/a>, an explosive rebounder, was picked 13th overall that same draft. Not only is his range restricted to inside arc, he lacks ideal defensive awareness. Then there\u2019s 2023 No. 5 pick <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thompau01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ausar Thompson<\/a>, a monster defender but mediocre shooter.<\/p>\n<h3>Who Is Michael Blackstone?<\/h3>\n<p>According to The Athletic\u2019s James L. Edwards III and Shams Charania, Pelicans vice president of basketball administration Michael Blackstone is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/5532887\/2024\/05\/31\/pistons-troy-weaver-fired-gm\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">set to take<\/a> Weaver\u2019s place. Prior to heading to New Orleans in 2020, Blackstone previously worked for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks.<\/p>\n<p>With the Cavs, Blackstone was the executive director of basketball operations for three seasons (2010-2013), helping them navigate through a particularly challenging time. In that time, the Cavs drafted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/irvinky01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyrie Irving<\/a> with the first overall pick. He and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tristan Thompson<\/a>, picked fourth overall that same draft (2011) went on to win championships with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thomptr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a> in 2016 as key players.<\/p>\n<p>With the Hawks, Blackstone was an assistant general manager under head coach and president Mike Budenholzer for one season. In 2015-16, Atlanta went 48-34, reaching the playoffs for the second consecutive year. However, they lost 12 more games than the previous season. They also made the curious decision to trade <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/teaguje01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeff Teague<\/a> for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/princta02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Taurean Prince<\/a> when the former was fresh off of his first All-Star selection. A month prior, they drafted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bembrde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DeAndre\u2019 Bembry<\/a> multiple picks ahead of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/siakapa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pascal Siakam<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/murrade01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dejounte Murray<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brogdma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Malcolm Brogdon<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, he\u2019s a mixed bag as well. Nonetheless, Langdon is the top decision-maker. With that said, Blackstone\u2019s influence will have its limits, for better or worse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you put your ear to the door of Detroit Pistons fans, you might hear anything from cheers to trumpets. Not only do they have a new president of basketball operations in Trajan Langdon, they\u2019re getting rid of general manager Troy Weaver. Pistons make the hiring of Trajan Langdon officially official. Here are some quotes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":79748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,4,1608,9,62,556,3],"tags":[3965,3622,49276,4557,49241,49102],"class_list":["post-79734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pistons","category-hawks","category-basketball","category-cavaliers","category-nba","category-nba-draft","category-news","tag-cade-cunningham","tag-killian-hayes","tag-michael-blackstone","tag-nba-offseason","tag-trajan-langdon","tag-troy-weaver"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}