2025 Pre-Draft Press Availability | Trajan Langdon | Pistons TV

2025 Pre-Draft Press Availability | Trajan Langdon | Pistons TV

tan when you came in last year it was sort of a mad dash to get a staff in place coaching staff in place draft free agency and then this year it’s obviously kind of been the opposite quiet have you been able to take advantage of you know the peace and quiet like is there any unfinished business from last summer or like i guess you kind of used the last month or so yeah i think it’s uh you know since we played some playoff basketball it went a little bit later um but ever since then it’s just been prepping for draft trying to understand what we want to do in free agency and yeah there’s some there’s always some staff stuff going on um and as fast as everything came together last year um still a lot of people from previous regime current regime coming together so it’s continued to set a environmental and a cultural foundation uh spending time with staff spending time with players um getting people under contract that contracts we thought that was very important to do that ahead of time so that’s a lot of the things that we’ve been doing uh since the season’s ended trey when you spoke to us after the season you said that the success of the team might have altered the plan it might have accelerated where you guys are now with the unfortunate injuries in the conference a lot of people think the east is wide open has that even changed or maybe escalated some of the things you might do in the next few weeks i i think it’s definitely provoked some thought internally uh in terms of what we can do to get better i think it hasn’t changed um the roadmap for us i don’t think we want i don’t think we’re in a place to push all of our chips in and um and be locked into a place who still want to keep that optionality um i think our guys have been in the gym working a lot they want to get better so i think we will see growth from our young players from this year to next year and i think that’s ultimately what’s really important for us because if those guys get better we’ll ultimately get better and there’ll be a time um but again we’re we’re continuing to keep our uh our ear to the ground and see if there’s opportunities to get better uh without pushing all of our chips in prover proverbly proverbially excuse me tan what’s the skill set you look for in pick 37 oh best player yeah i i mean we have our qualities that we’re looking for uh obviously high character hardworking and competitive um size for position is important i think is is throughout the league but uh as we’ve kind of looked at that pick um you know there’s there’s a lot of wings that are um intriguing there’s some bigs that are intriguing and there’s some some there’s some uh guards that can shoot the ball that are intriguing as well so we’re trying to figure out who’s going to be there but i think we’ll find a player that we like at that number tan um last year um you said it was kind of tough getting players to come in and try to like you know work out for you guys or like talk to like their people that they’re working with and stuff now that you guys have like a a strong foundation a strong culture how have you kind of seen that shift shift when you compare it to last year it’s uh well at 37 uh it’s just a different level of talent and prospect that you’re going to get in from five last year um but i think we’ve been able to get in the guys that we’ve wanted uh it’s obviously it’s always a game that you play with the agents um a lot of guys that you think might be in your range they think are going to be higher uh and usually you don’t get those players in um but i think our agents have been great with us this year in terms of getting players in that we feel will be in our range uh we’ve been able to talk to them and see them work out except for a couple that have been injured but other than that we’ve got a lot of players in had a good amount of workouts for 37 this year so we’re pleased how how has nil changed that prospect that’s there late first early second yeah it’s a good question i think it’s really changed it this year there’s probably we had a couple guys in early that went back to school um that i think were probably 25 to 45 and there’s a couple others that were even higher on draft boards uh so you take four four to six guys out at a range like ours it can affect the draft that maybe it falls off talent-wise 32 33 that would have fallen off 38 39 so it can can change the level of prospect that’ll be there at pick 37 and that’s kind of what we’re seeing uh but again uh i do think we’ll find a player that we like if if we’re still at 37 does that make teams maybe more inclined though to try to get up into the end of the first there i do think teams will be active getting up i do think that means that the price of those picks could go up too just housekeeping is is jaden and stu full go now i mean how how have those guys come along since uh i wouldn’t say they’re a full go but they’re coming along yeah they’re coming along they’ll be ready for camp so in treasure what are your benchmarks uh for success as it relates to the draft and free agency this off season i think for us it’s continued to get better and and continue to have optionality um you know as i said we’ll we’ll keep our ear to the ground on ways that we can improve um but improvement for us is is more internal i think trying to if we can keep some of the guys um that we had as part of this run some of the vets that would be great uh we know they’re going to get interest from other teams as well so as we look to keep them um we’ll also have to have backup options as well uh if they choose to go somewhere else for a deal that we can’t match but um or a deal that we can’t get to so um we’d like to get those guys back but we’ll be prepared for uh to have to go in another direction if need be finals final’s over i believe you you can talk to your own free agents correct now has has any of that taken place yet or do you have any any inkling of which way the wind might be blowing in that agents are tough so we know we have stated that we are interested and they’re interested in us but again um i think agents have to do their job for their players survey the market see what’s there and hopefully we can come to a resolution bringing those guys back but again we have to do our due diligence as well in case that they choose another another destination with the conclusion of the nba playoffs what did you learn from watching it and from the scouting process have you seen someone at pick 37 that could be able to help play in those high stress minutes that the playoffs offers yeah i thought the playoffs were a lot of fun i think us being in the first round gave our guys incredible experience and a great feel for what it actually entails to compete at that level uh and against a really good knicks team that we got a chance to play six games against um and then watching the finals and the leadup to the finals i thought it was some some spectacular basketball on both sides uh i think it shows that you need depth depth is important uh in this style of play um the game’s getting faster it’s getting bigger uh there’s so many players on the court that have skill um so those are the things that were i think that were apparent but the whole league is seeing that um and i think we have some players that fit that on our roster right now uh and i think they showed that in the in the first round of the series against the knicks so continuing to improve and and develop our young players i think is going to be paramount for us going forward uh and continuing to add pieces around the fit and can enhance their development trey i think steve was listed out with right information in the playoffs is there anything more you can share about the injury if there’s an update from right information or say it again uh he was listed as out with right d information in the playoffs is that still the status or is there more you can share about his d injury i would say he’ll be ready for camp to piggyback on keith’s earlier question obviously you guys have uh financial uh future financial commit commitments to consider this offseason what has been tom’s kind of feedback when you guys are talking about future financial commitments uh going forward as you try to move this program forward yeah good question i think um when i’ve talked to tom about the future i think we’ve kind of stayed right now uh and and he knows what’s coming um but i think we’re right now it’s let’s focus on what’s coming for the summer and next year and um we haven’t really looked upon any huge financial commitments out of what’s already um on the books or that we we see could be uh coming with retaining our own our own free agents um again we’re not going to be super aggressive this summer i don’t think i don’t foresee any of that uh and again it’s just developing from within and hopefully keeping a couple bet pieces that we had on the roster this past year and if we can add around the margins to get better uh we will but i don’t think it’s anything that’s going to be super aggressive or crazy and he’s i think we’re um on the same page with that that line of thinking tra did you ever find yourself thinking during that next series how things might have gone had you had iv and stew healthy and does getting those guys back inform what you will or won’t do this summer uh i don’t think it will inform what we do this summer we know these guys are going to be back um they’ll be healthy they’ll be 100% you know going into september and going into camp so i think that’s exciting it i don’t think it will inform us on what we’re going to do this summer um but just having you know the peace of mind to know those guys will be back and their rotations could be different um will be deeper um and we’ll be more experienced with that second half push and the playoff run that we had playoff experience i should say that we had so um i think you know jb and i look forward to that and seeing what that looks like and then see and understanding what our team is at that point though ever cross your mind during that series that man if we could have had these two guys of course of course um yeah especially with steu you know you know you know in january the ji’s going to be out but with steu you just think that that unforcer and the second unit around the rim could have really helped us but um you know we are also fortunate that we had paul to i think if we would have had a a guy not as talented as paul he wouldn’t have uh coming off the bench he wouldn’t have held water another team another player would have held water like paul did for us at that time so the uh the orlando trade for them to get beat i’m sure that caught everyone’s attention in the east did you get the sense that with the tatum injury and and then since that happened the the hallebertton injury now that maybe your peers around the conference are a little more open to to pushing some chips in than they would have been had those things not happened yeah i think so um i think again um we definitely are doing our due diligence and thinking about different opportunities but we also don’t want it to impact us going forward either um i think it was um i i thought it was a great move by orlando to get bane i think he is going to help them out they’re going to be a really good team uh we’ll look for those opportunities and again if it’s a player coming back that adds value and it’s not too expensive and it doesn’t um hamper our ability to have optionality going forward or hamper the development internally of our players we’ll look to do it you come from you know different franchises with your history have you spoken to any of the people that you kind of learned from coming up in front office or most of your conversations just kind of internal with the franchise in what regard in terms of just how to deal with you know management situations um you know what they had to deal with in terms of building rosters um just kind of the steps it takes to you know be early in your progression yeah i was very fortunate um in terms of starting out with the spurs and understanding progress and process and and seeing how they put together championship teams and maintained a championship culture and environment while winning at the same time and keeping a core of three together and fitting pieces around them and bringing in a young kawi leonard so getting those stories and seeing uh the years of what they did there in a small market and how successful they were uh and then going to cleveland brooklyn with that build and in new orleans i’ve learned a ton um but you definitely can’t go back to the guys that are still in those environments ask what would you do and what are you doing there those places are only going to give me so much although they love me to death they’re not going to help me at all right now tan uh since we talked to you kate was named 13 while nba and i guess uh you know him but he could be coming in compared to what he’s done this past season uh just what are some of the aspects that haven’t impressed you most and um i guess what kind of confidence does that give you rebuild going forward knowing you have a guy like a yeah a ton of confidence going forward that you know you have a guy that can lead you and and look he’s hungry this summer i think that’s the biggest thing is he wants to take the next step um and understand what that is in terms of adding things to his game getting stronger um getting in better shape uh those are the things that he wants to do coming into next season and i think the the big thing for us at the end of last year was knowing that okay these guys got a taste of it and that’s what always happens to competitors if you get a taste of high level competition and you fail you want it again you want to take the next step and i think that’s what we’ve seen from not only cade but the rest of our team um but knowing that you have that guy and not only a big-time player but a big- time leader of this group that’s highly respected um by his peers and the coaching staff i think uh is a lot to look forward to going forward and um yeah i think amazing that he made all nba although it hurts us from a roster building standpoint um it’s uh obviously a huge plus to have a player of that caliber t you mentioned obviously building internally and probably not anything big this summer um that puts a lot of pressure it sounds like a jaden ivy is there a little bit of an unknown in your mind about what he’ll be or are you completely confident he’ll be where you need him to be yeah i would i’ve never thought that it puts pressure on ji coming back i think um look i think a player coming back off an injury u there’s always concern and thoughts in his head and so we’re going to try to put him in the best possible place to be successful coming off that injury i’ve i’ve come off i’ve played two different seasons after injuries and it’s difficult mentally and emotionally to understand he’s going to want to get back to where he was pre-injury playing a high level of basketball so we feel it’s our responsibility to put him in a place where he can you know get there as quickly as possible he’s been in here working his butt off all summer he’s in a really good place um but i i wouldn’t say that it puts any pressure on him u more than the pressure that he’s putting on himself ton in terms of assar and this kind of being his first real offseason since he uh didn’t really get to last last offseason where are you looking to see him grow the most and how do you think uh he can possibly raise the ceiling on this team he he’s he’s been working his butt off too um he’s been here uh he’s been back home uh he’s been in the gym the thing that he wants to do at some point is be defensive player of the year so uh working on his strength that he didn’t get to do last year getting in better shape u working on his different abilities to get shots to create shots um putting him in pick and roll but i think ata’s got an ability in different places on the floor to be able to just create a shot so that’s what we’re really trying to uh work with him on this summer the ball handling the shot creation uh and then just getting stronger uh it’s one thing that we he couldn’t do all last summer because of the restrictions so having him in the weight room uh movement efficiency so when he is getting in those situations he’s can be a little bit more on balance in terms of getting a shot or finishing at the rim but uh he’s excited we’re excited for him to have an entire summer to develop not only um on the floor but also in the weight room along the same lines what can you share about the early workout projections that you’ve seen from ron yeah he’s he’s he’s getting better i’m excited for him um for this summer league you know we’re really focusing on this summer league being about he and bobby giving them the opportunities to um really show what they can do on both ends of the floor and and lead the summer league team and be competitive around it but those are two guys that u have versatility on both ends of the floor to handle to score it uh both been working on their shot and shot creation as well along with getting stronger which is inc very important for two guys that are young in this league so um they’ll have that opportunity in summer league and we’re excited about it tan you have built a a pistons way if you will right um there’s a belief in this town for a long time that this is not a destination site for free agents how important has it been for you to establish you know a culture the way you have in order to eventually attract free agents to the franchise uh it’s i think it’s been the most important thing that jp and i have focused on uh since hiring them is and continuing to talk about the the quality of character of person or player that we bring in here in these doors uh it doesn’t matter the position uh player coach front office executive somebody on our performance team it’s very important that that person is of high character competitive and uh with a pistons first mindset so we keep that in the back of our minds all the time when looking at people or players to bring in the building so um i think it was a a big piece of our success this year uh it led to um an environment of our players coming in every day having joy and um having each other’s back and just enjoying the process of not only competing but getting better every day so we want to continue to enhance that and better that and so any person or any player that comes in the building feels that and knows that uh they can reach their potential here as a piston with 5b and duran obviously uh restricted free agency we’ll have to see how that goes but i guess what’s the line you have to figure out there as far as valuing a guy properly and you know guys have growth in front of them um i guess what’s the approach with those conversations and and how they gone so far so don’t jump the gun they’re not restricted free agents for another year so um i think it’s you know when that time comes which is later in the summer if look we’ll we’ll have those conversations with the agents but um you know in terms of valuing our players and contract stuff i’ll i’m never going to talk about it that’s going to be between us and uh and the agent but um those are guys that we we value uh you know that that we talk about so um hopefully we can you know have some really good conversations if it comes to that and if not they’ll they’ll play their years out here and then we’ll see what happens going forward all right thanks

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