Langdon: Detroit Pistons Explored Trade Options That Were 'Way Too Expensive' At Deadline

During his end of season press conference, Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Trajan Langdon covered a wide range of ground when providing his retrospective analysis on the 2025-26 campaign. Though the Pistons weren’t able to extend their season into late-May or early-June after a second round flameout versus the Cleveland Cavs, Langdon made sure to highlight the numerous high-water marks from Detroit’s season. 

Near the beginning of Langdon’s availability, the team’s personnel architect pointed out that the Pistons were only able to muster 14 regular season wins two years before this run. The ensuing season saw a tripled win total (44), but that regular season effort was still a considerable step below the Pistons’ 60-win output this time around. With that understanding as the preface for Detroit’s performance, Langdon did add some detail to a particularly crucial aspect of the season. 

At the Trade Deadline, Langdon struck a three-team deal with the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves. In the trade, the Pistons sent fourth-year guard Jaden Ivey to the Bulls for the outgoing portion of the arrangement. As for incomings, Detroit welcomed Kevin Huerter into the fold along with Dario Saric and a first round pick swap with the T-Wolves. The Pistons ultimately waived Saric shortly thereafter, so the deal in essence was Huerter-for-Ivey with an improved selection in the 2026 NBA Draft. 

At the time, Detroit’s mid-season trade appeared to address a need for perimeter scoring in the Motor City with Ivey struggling to regain his pre-injury form, but Huerter needed some time to settle into his role on the Pistons. Eventually, Huerter worked his way into regular playing time on the second unit, but a left adductor strain cut his playoff impact short with a string of DNPs to close out the postseason. 

Back in February, Langdon’s three-team trade sparked mixed reviews. Some critics asserted that the Pistons were in the position to go all-in with a move for a secondary scorer who can produce in the playoffs alongside Cade Cunningham. Once the postseason arrived, Jalen Duren’s production dropped by nearly 10 points per game, and Cunningham was left with too much of the scoring load to shoulder on a nightly basis, and Detroit’s reluctance to make a win-now move at the deadline could be viewed in a different light. 

But rather than leaning into that narrative, Langdon offered insight on what type of trade market the Pistons were walking into three months ago. 

”I think in the room we evaluate pretty objectively where we’re at and where we think we’re at and where we think we’ve been successful,” Langdon said. “I don’t think there was a rock that was not overturned in terms of understanding where we’re at and how we can move forward. We looked at different things. Different things weren’t available. Some things were way too expensive for at that point we felt, and we had a pretty good roster. We felt the move that we made helped us. Obviously, [Huerter] wasn’t available for us in the postseason because of an injury, and I think that might have hurt us a little bit as well. It’s not the only reason, but we went on a really good run. We won seven games, and I think we were right there to win eight, right? We were a couple minutes from winning a game that would have had us playing tonight. There’s a lot of successes. You can’t take away from that. You can nit-pick at certain things, but 60 wins and losing in the second round, I think if any of us would have said that back in September we would’ve been pretty satisfied with that.”

According to Huerter, the Pistons continue to have a general interest in adding more perimeter shooting and ball handling to the Detroit lineup. Langdon alluded to those qualities as areas that the Pistons targeted at the deadline before ultimately working out a trade to bring Huerter to Motown. 

Huerter enters the offseason as an unrestricted free agent, so the Pistons will have the opportunity to decide whether they’ve seen enough to bring Red Velvet back for another go-around. But in the aftermath of a long season, Langdon sees the trying moments at present as another building block for future success. 

”That last game will sting,” Langdon said. “It will be painful for some time, but very rarely is there growth without some pain. I think our guys felt that last season and took a step this season. I think they’re going to do the same thing with this summer, evaluate where they’re at individually. We’ll put plans together and those guys will attack them this summer just like they did last summer and we’ll come back better.”

Langdon, working in conjunction with head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, has built a culture of long-term growth and development in Detroit as part of the Pistons’ turnaround. So, now they’ll address the offseason with the intentions of building another squad that can compete for a title.

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