Even with his team in first place, Detroit Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon says he isn’t even thinking about a championship yet.
In an interview on WXYT-FM 97.1 The Ticket on Wednesday, Feb. 11, Langdon answered questions on the Pistons’ trade deadline moves, center Isaiah Stewart’s suspension and their championship pursuit. On that last point, while he likes the roster he has constructed, Langdon wasn’t making any playoff predictions.
“We haven’t even won a home playoff game, so I’m not going to talk about NBA championships,” Langdon said on the “Costa & Jansen with Heather” morning show.
Langdon, who has been a part of two championship organizations with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014 and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, said the regular season and the playoffs are “two completely different monsters,” and essentially said this version of the Pistons hasn’t won anything yet.
Langdon also explained why the team traded Jaden Ivey last week, and provided perspective on Stewart’s role in the fight in Charlotte, for which he earned a seven-game suspension.
Trajan Langdon on Pistons’ NBA Finals chances
Langdon was asked how open the Eastern Conference is to win with Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Halliburton and Boston Celtics guard Jayson Tatum both out for extended periods. While Langdon acknowledged that those two absences help the Pistons, he didn’t call his team the favorite, saying there are other good teams in the conference to overcome.
“I think we’ve shown we can beat those teams, but we also realized that we haven’t won a playoff series yet, either,” he said. “So although we’re having a good regular season thus far, the playoffs are a different monster and we don’t have a lot of experience there.”
The Pistons are 39-13 and currently in first place in the East with a 5½-game lead over the second-place Celtics. But despite the commanding lead, the sportsbook odds have the Pistons with about the same odds as the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks to come out of the East. But what about the talk from inside the NBA?
Stephen A. Smith on Pistons: ‘They have arrived’
In an episode of ESPN’s “First Take” on Wednesday, NBA insider Brian Windhorst was asked who he thinks the favorite in the East is.
“Here’s my analysis on who’s going to win the East: I have no idea, and frankly, nobody does,” he said, saying he could make a championship case for five teams, including the Pistons.
Windhorst says that many coaches and executives tell him that the New York Knicks are the best team in the conference, but also points out their flaws, fully on display in two Pistons wins of at least 30 points over the Knicks this season. And though Windhorst has acknowledged the Pistons have been in first place since essentially the start of the season, he didn’t call them the favorite, saying, “they have their challenges.” Windhorst added that team health, ultimately, would be the deciding factor for him.
ESPN personality (and noted Knicks fan) Stephen A. Smith reiterated his stance on “First Take” that the Pistons, not the Knicks, are the best team in the East.
“The Pistons are sending a message to the entire Eastern Conference, if not the entire NBA: They are not coming, they believe they have arrived,” he said. “[The Pistons] want the Knicks desperately. I mean, they want them bad!”
Per Windhorst’s analysis, however, Smith’s stance is just conjecture.
“Anybody who tells you they know who is going to win, they are just guessing,” he said.
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Trajan Langdon on Jaden Ivey trade
Langdon was also asked about trading former lottery pick Jaden Ivey to the Chicago Bulls. Langdon attributed it to the “timing of the injury” that knocked Ivey out for much of the 2024-25 season, and the knee surgery in October that set Ivey back for this season.
“It wasn’t just something that knocked him out for one season and he had an offseason and camp,” he said. “I think trying to transition back to NBA basketball or any professional sport during the season when we haven’t played for 11 months is going to be very, very difficult.”
While Langdon said the Ivey trade that landed the Pistons veteran wing Kevin Huerter makes the team better, he also said Ivey was great for the organization during his time in Detroit.
“I hope he figures it out. I think he will figure it out, sometimes it just takes time,” Langdon said.
Trajan Langdon on Isaiah Stewart fight
Much like Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff, Langdon defended Pistons center Isaiah Stewart for his role in the brawl on Monday that involved Duren, Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges and center Moussa Diabaté.
“I think his reaction in the game was one of trying to come to the defense of one of his teammates,” Langdon said before the suspensions were announced. “But I think he knows going forward that that’s not something that can happen again, because it can set the team back.”
The NBA announced on Wednesday that Stewart is suspended for seven games, with Duren suspended for two games and both Hornets sidelined four games.
“We know where his heart is. I don’t think anybody doubts why he did what he did,” Langdon said. “But there’s also the professional side of it. If you do that, you’re going to miss games and you’re going to hurt the team. And he also cares a ton about the team.”
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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Pistons president on NBA championship chances: ‘I don’t even know’
Reporting by Christian Romo, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
