DETROIT — Two hours before the Detroit Pistons handed the New York Knicks their most lopsided loss of the season, president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon addressed reporters for the first time since media day. He spoke on myriad topics, with one message in particular being most poignant.
As previously reported Tuesday, the Pistons had no intentions of making any roster-altering moves ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline. Langdon said Friday the logic behind that approach came from the chemistry Detroit (38-13) had established en route to becoming the Eastern Conference’s best team, and wanting to see how far it could take the franchise this postseason before intervening.
A night removed from arguably the Pistons’ worst losses of the season, their 118-80 domination of the Knicks gave credence to the front office’s patience.
“There’s games we can go back and we can talk about that we simply won because of our chemistry, because we were more connected than our opponent,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said pregame. “We feel like, as a coaching staff and front office, throughout time, if you look back and have more talent, less chemistry, you’ll underachieve. If you have less talent, more chemistry, it gives you an opportunity to overachieve.
“What it feels like to us is we’ve got the perfect world of both, where we have the talent level plus we have the chemistry. So why would you mess with it? Give it an opportunity. That’s what this organization has been consistent with. Very easily, this summer, we could’ve jumped the gun, gone out and made some huge splash for what we thought would help us go to the next step.”
Instead, the Pistons opted to make just one deal. It was a three-team trade that sent Jaden Ivey to the Chicago Bulls, brought in Kevin Huerter and Dario Šarić and will likely move them up a few spots in this upcoming draft, depending on how the Minnesota Timberwolves’ season goes. Wins such as Friday’s showcase why Detroit should feel validated in resisting the urge to pick apart its roster.
The Pistons compiled 66 bench points, shot 17 of 40 from long range and racked up 21 points off turnovers. They were in the driver’s seat from start to finish.
Even with All-Star reserve Jalen Duren sidelined because of right knee soreness and All-Star starter Cade Cunningham posting 11 points on 11 shots in 22 minutes, Detroit exemplified, once again, why it is the best team in the East. Sure, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Miles McBride sat out with injuries. Yes, rotations will be shortened and games will be won and lost in the half court come playoff time.
But these Pistons proved Bickerstaff and Langdon’s point: Their cohesion makes a trade that would modify their core unnecessary.
“We’ve been a top team in the East all year,” Cunningham said after the win. “Through our identity of how we defend, how we rebound the ball, how we score the ball in the paint. That’s how we plan on winning down the road. We made a great addition with Kevin. … We’re ready to go. I don’t think we needed anything crazy or to shake up what we had going on too much.
“I think we have all the guys in the room and I trust Trajan. He made the move, now it’s time to roll with it.”
NOT NEW TO THIS. https://t.co/dx3wrrOIOU pic.twitter.com/wRCmviMPG4
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) February 7, 2026
To Cunningham’s comment about not needing anything outside of their locker room, look no further than Daniss Jenkins. The undrafted backup point guard scored a team-high 18 points on 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from 3-point range. His energy was infectious. His confidence has been supreme since he first arrived in Detroit and split time between the Pistons and Motor City Cruise.
While he just completed his final game on his two-way contract and will be converted to a standard contract ahead of Detroit’s next game, Monday against the Charlotte Hornets, his ascension would have likely been hindered had the Pistons decided to shuffle their roster. Jenkins has played his way into becoming a core member of the rotation and, frankly, made Ivey expendable.
The passion Jenkins plays with was bred from being overlooked.
“I’m a very humble guy,” Jenkins said as he sat at the postgame podium. “But in college, most of these dudes that got drafted over me, what was the difference between me and them? … Going undrafted, that’s insanity to me, literally insanity. And that burns inside of me every single day. That took something away from me.
“It is what it is, but they’re going to have to see me. Every time I match up with somebody I know, whoever was drafted or whatever, I take that personal.”
Apart from Jenkins’ competitive fire molding him into a vital asset for the Pistons, Tobias Harris and Ausar Thompson are essential in complementing Cunningham. Harris is averaging 14.2 points on 41.9 percent from 3 over his last 10 games. Thompson, who’s making quite the case for being the best point-of-attack defender in the association, has been good for 3.4 steals and 1.6 blocks in his last five games.
Ausar Thompson is a MENACE on defense 😤🔒#NBAonPrime pic.twitter.com/GDitDBj70c
— NBA on Prime (@NBAonPrime) February 7, 2026
Thompson was Jalen Brunson’s primary defender and forced him into his worst shooting night of the season. He limited Brunson to 12 points on 4-of-20 shooting and 0-of-8 from long range. Detroit having the runway to stick together, find ways to best make up for each other’s weaknesses and produce as a unit is why they should be viewed as such a threat in the East.
“We know what we have in this locker room,” Thompson said before diving into his routine postgame film study. “We know what type of guys we have, and we know we come to work every day. So, I’m riding with my guys. Everybody here is riding with the guys. We just believe in each other that much, so that’s how we approach it.”
That belief brewing in the locker room is a product of Langdon and the front office affording the Pistons the necessary time to blossom into who they’ve become now. And it contributes to the belief that they have everything they need to compete down the stretch of the season with how their roster is currently constructed.