It is the 11th hour in the standoff between the Detroit Pistons and Jalen Duren. There should be a resolution today. Regardless of whether Duren accepts the qualifying offer or Detroit's contract offer, the Pistons' approach in the negotiations should raise eyebrows about the competence of the front office. In fact, GM Trajan Langdon's overall body of work this offseason should scare Pistons fans.
The Pistons have exceeded expectations since Langdon took over in the 2024 offseason. They made back-to-back playoffs and won 60 games last season. But Langdon deserves very little credit for this. The success was built upon the players the Pistons have drafted and developed in the pre-Langdon era.
Despite the fact that the Pistons were one move away from being a true title contender last season, Langdon stood pat at the trade deadline. Detroit's offensive shortcomings were obvious, but the front office chose not to address them.
That continued this summer. Even though the Pistons added some more shooting, they didn't make a big enough upgrade to change the fate of the franchise. In a much stronger Eastern Conference, their chances of repeating last season's success will be lower. The Pistons still don't have enough shot creation, ball-handling, and shooting.
Giving Kevin Huerter a three-year, $27 million deal, letting Tobias Harris go, and drafting Ebuka Okorie were all questionable decisions. Huerter will likely not be a big part of the rotation. Whether John Collins is an upgrade over Harris is unclear. Head coach JB Bickerstaff already said that it will be difficult for Okorie to crack the rotation.
For a team with title aspirations, these moves are just not good enough. But the worst of all has been the way Langdon has dealt with the Duren situation.
Trajan Langdon's attitude in Jalen Duren negotiations will hurt the Pistons
The Pistons have made a complete mess of the negotiations, letting it drag until the qualifying offer deadline. Now, they have a very frustrated and angry Jalen Duren on their hands. Damaging the relationship with your 22-year-old All-NBA player when you just won 60 games is just an unacceptable blunder.
If Duren picks up his qualifying offer, he is unlikely to repeat last season's production, and he will almost certainly leave next offseason.
If he accepts the contract offer, it will be for a five-year contract that exceeds $200 million. That will be a fair market value for Duren, which means that the Pistons didn't even get a discount. So, Langdon will have dragged the negotiations until October, pissed Duren off, let him miss training camp, only to sign him to the same contract he would have accepted months ago.
Earlier in the week, Langdon referred to Duren as "difficult to deal with" and compared him to Zion Williamson. He included a weight clause in the contract offer. As a player who has shown no indication of unprofessionalism or conditioning issues, this would certainly anger Duren.
Langdon said that he hadn't talked to Duren all offseason and added that he isn't going to let Duren's "feelings" get in the way of business.
There are almost no other instances of other general managers in the league talking about their star players in this manner.
It's not like Langdon has a long track record of success with this approach. While he was with the Pelicans, he consistently tried to be competitive and make the playoffs. Despite having Zion Williamson in the fold, the Pelicans went over .500 just twice and never won a playoff series in Langdon's five seasons in charge.
Detroit is in a good spot. They have a bright future thanks to their young stars and assets. With Langdon as the ultimate decision-maker, however, Pistons fans have every right to be skeptical of the front office's ability to build a true championship contender.
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