Pistons' Trajan Langdon got 1st-place votes for NBA Executive of the Year

The "run it back" strategy appeared to work for nearly six months, with the Pistons staying atop the East for essentially the entire season. And though the Pistons showed a need for secondary scoring, especially from the perimeter, Langdon avoided big moves at the trade deadline. His one big deadline transaction was a three-way trade with the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves that sent former first-round pick Jaden Ivey to Chicago and brought Kevin Huerter to Detroit.

That has worked in the Pistons favor, with Ivey later waived by the Bulls and Detroit moving up in the 2026 draft thanks to a converted pick swap with Minnesota. But the 2026 playoffs have brought new criticism to Langdon and the rest of the Pistons front office.

With the 1-seed Pistons having fallen into a 3-1 hole against the 8-seed Orlando Magic, many NBA experts are now criticizing the Pistons for not making strong enough moves to bolster the team in the offseason and at the deadline. Detroit's disappointing playoff performance is already stirring up rumors of the Pistons going after a high-level scorer, even if that's not the direction in which Langdon has indicated he wants to go − at least not yet.

Langdon has defended his roster-building strategy by saying he wants to see what the Pistons have with a young core of point guard Cade Cunningham, center Jalen Duren, forward Ausar Thompson and forward Ron Holland. And though that strategy worked better than most NBA experts anticipated in a 60-win season, it is now being tested as the Pistons are one loss away from one of the biggest first-round upsets in NBA playoff history.

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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Pistons' Trajan Langdon finishes 3rd in NBA Executive of the Year vote