Trajan Langdon believed in the Pistons' future. But the present? Asked if he thought the playoffs were a realistic goal this season, Langdon laughed and admitted that it "didn’t even enter my thought process, to be honest with you. Back last summer, it wasn’t even something I thought about at all."
Langdon's hope in his first season as president of basketball operations in Detroit was that the Pistons might scratch and claw their way to ... scratching and clawing for an unlikely play-in spot down the stretch. Then they reached the trade deadline with a 14-8 record over the prior two months and the sixth seed in the East.
"These guys have put themselves in a position where they believe that they can be a playoff team, which is exciting," Langdon said Friday. "At this point, we know that’s important to them. And doing something that can add to that and give them the best possible chance this season was important to us."
Seeking a ball-handler to support Cade Cunningham was the main priority for the Pistons. They lost their best secondary creator -- and their most explosive player, period -- when guard Jaden Ivey broke his leg on the first night of the new year. They also wanted to add future draft assets, if they could, by using their cap space.
They came out of the deadline with a veteran point guard in Dennis Schroder, another rotation piece in wing Lindy Waters and two second-round picks. It wasn't a bonanza, by any means, but it was a job well done.
"We were mainly taking in calls instead of placing calls," said Langdon. "We like the core that we have, we like the unit that we have. J.B. (Bickerstaff) and his staff have done a great job. These guys believe in one another and enjoy competing between the lines with one another, and they want to make a run at the playoffs. I think we have a good thing going.
"But obviously with the loss of J-I, we wanted to understand, what can we do to make us a little bit better, if we can’t get a lot better? Right now, it wasn’t an opportunity to get a lot better. The things that we looked at were really expensive. For us, it was add a piece, where we didn’t have to give up a lot, that could really help this unit and help Cade."
The Pistons flipped three assets acquired Wednesday -- wings KJ Martin and Josh Richardson and a second-round pick -- to the Jazz to bring Schroder to Detroit as part of the blockbuster that sent Jimmy Butler to the Warriors. The 31-year-old Schroder, who's appeared in 68 career playoff games, will be a valuable asset for Detroit's backcourt. Langdon envisions him both playing alongside Cunningham and running his own unit.
Schroder has averaged 14.4 points and 5.5 assists while shooting about 36 percent from three this season. He should debut for Detroit this weekend. The Pistons (25-26) have three more games on their six-game homestand, continuing Friday night against the 76ers, before the season pauses for the All-Star break.
Langdon said the Pistons had other trade discussions ahead of the deadline, and even thought about pushing more of their chips into the middle to go for it this season. But in the latter regard, nothing got close. The larger view won out.
"Do we think we’re a little bit ahead of where we thought we were coming into the season? Sure," said Langdon. "But it doesn’t mean we’re going to do things that put ourselves in a difficult position. We always want to stay flexible and be opportunistic, and I think the things that we did here keep us in that place."
The Pistons' motor this season has been Cunningham, who will play in his first All-Star Game later this month. The supporting cast that Langdon assembled last summer has delivered to a T, especially sharpshooter Malik Beasley. And the team defense has improved dramatically under Bickerstaff. These are the primary reasons that the Pistons' first playoff berth in six years is within reach.
But the most pleasant surprise for Langdon has been their "cohesiveness as a unit." That's where the team has grown more quickly than he could have imagined.
"Their chemistry and how they get along is hard to find. I don’t take that lightly," said Langdon, a former NBA player who had a 13-year career in the pros. "You don’t see that often. It doesn’t matter if it’s a winning team or a losing team. The energy and the positivity that they come with every day is hard to find."
Langdon credited Bickerstaff, his first big hire in Detroit, for creating that environment for the players "and continuing to communicate to them that this is going to be positive, there’s going to be joy here, we’re going to do this together win or lose, and we’re going to be resilient in our approach."
"And they have stayed steadfast in that approach, which has been a lot of fun," Langdon said. "I have a lot of respect for what they’ve done thus far this season."
And even more excitement for what they might do yet.