Troy Weaver and the Pistons Part Ways as Trajan Langdon Takes Over the Franchise | POP Podcast

Troy Weaver and the Pistons Part Ways as Trajan Langdon Takes Over the Franchise | POP Podcast

Troy Weaver is gone the Pistons have parted ways with their longtime general manager as trasan Langdon officially takes over as the team’s new president of fastball operations what’s next for him the front office and Monty Williams and the coaching staff we talk about all that and more on this special edition of the Palace of Pistons podcast good evening everybody and welcome to another exciting night of NBA basketball the Pistons are digging in they got the dep they got the big man they got the better basketball team no doubt about it vs need a three and they have just another 3 seconds to do it here’s johy Phillips here it is he’s got it he’s got it johy pH HS the three overtime amazing the Detroit basketball Pistons fans welcome back to another special edition of the Palace of Pistons podcast backto back weeks with a bonus episode we figured the news was coming we knew we weren’t going to be able to get it in with our standard recording time but the Pistons and Troy Weaver have officially parted ways and with me to talk about it is Jasper apalona wasn’t on were you on the podcast the day I don’t even remember time moves so quickly I think we were all there uh but Jasper Troy Weaver’s gone we’re gonna talk about that we’re going to talk about how quickly Tran langden has come in and made moves with the Pistons but before we do that I did want to give a quick word to our sponsor our good friends over at bet online bet online is the number one source for all of the NBA and NHL playoffs this season every stat every matchup and even live odds while the games are being played when the game’s over head on over to our online casino and get in on a game of blackjack or poker or unwind with one of our over 150 slot games head to the website today to get in on the action don’t forget to use our promo code believe bav for your 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit bet online where the game starts quick shout out as well to our substack please give a look over there at Palace with pistons.com it’ll be in the show description wherever you’re watching or listening from uh Palace of pistons.com I’m going to go in there hit your hit in your email subscribe for free get all of our content directly to your email inbox as soon as we post said I just had a piece come out earlier this week on Donovan kingan we also talked about on the uh weekly scheduled podcast that came out on Friday morning but I had a piece on him just kind of looking at his strengths his weaknesses and his fit with the Pistons so definitely go give a look at that I know we had some very uh strong opinions in the comments section when we talked about on the podcast drafting klling in and maybe trading away Jaylen Duran from the Pistons if you haven’t went and listened to our normal weekly scheduled show go check out that out after you finish listening or watching this one all right Jasper let’s not waste any more time let’s get into it Troy Weaver out as the Pistons general manager as soon as the team officially announced that traan langden would be the team’s new president of basketball operations I guess this was what was expected to happen right 100% there’s a reason we warned our listeners hey there’s a good chance you’re going to be hearing from us in a special podcast before for next week’s scheduled one because look this has been a long time coming it’s been coming since what mid November when the Pistons went on that historic losing streak I don’t think there was any question in our minds that Troy Weaver was not going to be here uh especially after the president of basketball operation search was announced it just seemed like a completely untenable situation for him to continue on um yeah did we have the the editor queue up pool in the gang celebration for this one because I think it’s appropriate um that’s a deep cut for you folks listening at home I I just think that this was such a necessary move and I don’t think you’re G to get really much push back I’m sure there’s a couple people who were like ah Troy should have gotten another year but let’s be honest it was not working the Pistons had backslid uh their record was worse three of the previous four years than it was the year before that so it’s just like this had to happen we will see what happens when it comes to Monty Williams uh I think the fact that Troy Weaver was immediately let go and Monty was not I think you can read into that how you will but that’s a different discussion for a different day as of right now Troy Weaver is out as next beginning of next week potentially yeah we might be coming on here for yet another special podcast uh and we can discuss what what we think that maybe means for him but as of right now Troy Weaver is out uh traan langon apparently is already looking at other candidates uh primarily from within the Pelicans organ own organization uh I believe his name is Will Will Blackstone is that the the name I’m sorry Michael Blackstone so that Mich black Zone by Shams and James Edwards Au 30 of the athletic who initially broke the story that the Pistons and Weaver were parting ways uh it also mentioned in the story that the the Pistons are very close to naming the Pelicans vice president of basketball Administration Michael Blackstone to a very high up role within the Pistons organization as well so and and this was something that I alluded to right when the langda news broke out like who’s coming with him from the Pelicans I think the the pipe dream was that he’d bring along Bryson Graham with him but it seems like Bryson Graham is about to step into the general manager role over in New Orleans where he’s been for 10 plus years so it it probably just makes sense for him to continue to climb the ladder in that organization but he brings over Michael Blackstone who was a key uh key player in a lot of negotiations that they had in terms of player contracts player extensions the Pelicans are are very much respected for how they have created some very interesting contracts uh with some of their key players on the roster so Blackstone played an in integral role in that area so I think that makes him a a a nice addition alongside Langan and that’s what’s nice about bringing in a guy like langon who has already been with the team for a while has connections across the NBA like especially with the timeline that the Pistons are on where they have to move quickly here to get certain things in place as we get closer to the draft and right after that free agency like you don’t want your your your president of basketball operations spending weeks and weeks trying to build out his staff when you’re drafting in less than a month and you have a top five pick in that draft so for him to already have the ball rolling on this is certainly a good indicator of how quickly the Pistons intend to move here um but I like the start from langon and it just made sense to move on from Weaver uh Edwards and and Shams also reported that Weaver was offered a much smaller role with the organization and offsite scouting role with the team but Weaver declined that position look I think that made all the sense in the world I get the Pistons you know trying to you know I guess be nice in a way and still offer him employment in a sense but very hard to take uh a step a step down and not just a step but going down a couple flights of stairs in the Ivory Tower is what that would have been for Troy Weaver so it makes sense for him to to decline that role even if he ends up in a smaller role in another organization it just makes sense for him to move on from the organization that wanted to move on from him yeah we even discussed the possibility of that happening a few podcasts ago where was like well maybe they don’t fire Weaver they just offer him a much much lesser position and he goes no thanks I’m good that’s exactly what happened I know some people are going to look at the black Zone potential hiring I don’t think it’s official yet but it’s 99.9% sure going to happen a lot of people will look at that they’ll go oh wait is trasan lon just going to take over the guys he knows from New Orleans and and just operate like that um duh obviously we have talked about how crucial it is for the Pistons to move forward quickly and exactly how much work is ahead of traan langon so I think it makes all the sense of the world for him to bring over guys that he already knows he already trusts he’s already been working with guys who he has presumed presumably been looking at this draft class with has been looking at potential trades around the league with um when you have this much work in front of you you can’t waste any time trying to put together a completely new staff no you have to operate quickly and you need to operate with the knowledge that you already have at your disposal so for me it was kind of a no-brainer that he’d be bringing over a couple guys uh from the Pelicans would have been nice if it was Graham too but you completely understand why he would stay New Orleans except that GM position um you know he gets he gets bumped up the ladder so I think for me this was just like everything that’s happened so far has been kind of kind of obvious um which is why this is an emergency podcast that we’re going to be keeping on the shorter side and not being like Oh my God can you believe this happened like no everything that has happened so far makes a whole lot of sense and uh Aon I think this might be a good time for us to get to Tom gorus his comments because traan langon obviously did not hire himself there is still one man above him one man that cannot be fired from the Pistons as much as some of us might like that to be the case and I thought Tom gor’s comments on the hiring of Lon were incredibly telling I’m I’m just quickly going to go through them because there wasn’t too much Tom goris said I’ve committed to building a front office in Detroit that brings together the most advanced capabilities in in Creative basketball Minds Tran is an accomplished front office executive which is true with an impressive track record he’s worked his way up and seen it all as a player Scout and executive he’s been successful at every level I’m confident he will very swiftly get us to the standard of Excellence I I expect from every business he continued on what was important to me was finding someone who was a Hands-On leader and effective Communicator that could connect with people motivate our front office and deliver results I knew TR was universally praised and respected around the league but as I spent time with him he articulated a thoughtful detailed plan to create a culture of winning and getting the best out of the talented people we have in our organization I think there were some very telling quotes within there Erin and and you might have I you know I mean I think we’re in perfect agreement on this uh first thing Tom G is saying I’m confident he will very swiftly get us to the standard of Excellence I expect from every business to me that tells me I tried the tanking crap I didn’t like it I’m going back to how I was before that was a lot more fun yeah well I I think that was probably Troy Weber’s biggest downfall uh in terms of losing his the echelon that he was held to that that that you know high regard he was held to by Pistons fans and and seemingly the Pistons Executives was I mean to put it bluntly he just sat on his hands too much you go back to to last summer and the complete lack of action that the Pistons took after winning 17 games was completely mind-numbing it made no sense and the lack of activity that that he he’s taken isn’t just doesn’t just date back to last year I mean we seemingly heard it every year he was the team’s GM that this upcoming offseason’s going to be really really big for the Pistons they plan on making some major moves taking some bigger swings and it just never happened I mean I I tweeted this uh early on on Saturday morning or maybe it was yesterday I don’t even remember because again time is moving so quickly right now but I tweeted that I remember when the Pistons extended Troy Weaver right at the end of 2022 was literally like the last week of December they signed him to that contract extent and I remember coming on this podcast and going online and saying look I’m not saying he’s an abject failure I’m just thinking this might have been a little bit too soon to rush into extending him uh when he’s not really done anything uh extraordinary yet and I got ambushed for having that opinion because everyone had Troy Weaver on this pedestal as this GM that was you know going to come in and restore as he quite famously uh you know Pro proclaimed he was going to restore the Pistons and it wasn’t happening and the Pistons just seemingly gave him an extension for really no reason at all I mean I again I don’t know what he had done at that point that made you think everything was heading in this great great Direction uh but I remember getting ambushed for that and now we’re sitting here and we’re looking back at everything and we’re looking at all the inactivity and the lack of moves and the lack of aggressiveness that we saw with that front office regime and we’re kind of kicking ourselves for being like why’ this take so long to get rid of him in the first place uh sorry real quick I was gonna say look Troy Weaver as GM reminded me a lot of watching Spencer tlon play baseball for the Tigers like you you see some good swings hits a couple homers and you’re like okay but 80% of the time he’s getting struck out swinging like that’s kind of how it fell and it’s year three and you’re just like time’s a ticking buddy yeah like we we need to see some aggressiveness if you’re going to go out you need to go out swinging and unfortunately Troy Weaver kept his powder Barrel dry and uh it was a real shame to see him spend four years basically spinning his wheels with the likes of Josh Jack and and hamdu Dio I mean really Aaron when you look back at it what was his most impactful move right boam bogdanovich trading for Simone fono like if you take out the draft picks out of the equation and even then you can look at his second round record when did the guy ever take a real swing at a potentially impact player in the second round never he didn’t no he just that was one of my biggest frustrations with with we weer was the draft and stashes that were obviously never going to come over and contribute it was you know drafting someone like Luca Garza who I don’t know I think he has an ability to maybe give you some minutes down the line in the NBA I mean he’s played in some blowouts With The Wolves he had some numbers with the Pistons every once in a while but they just kind of didn’t do anything with him the drafting of bza kicha the drafting of drafting of Gabriel proa like these guys that were never coming over were never GNA contribute to this team I mean was proa not like a top 40 pick like he was not like a 50 50th pick or 55th pick like he was not he was like a early to mid second round pick a pick that probably still has some value and it was just spent on a guy that was never going to contribute to this team meanwhile you look at the roster that the Pistons would Trot out every night and you’d be like especially this past year there are six to eight guys that should not be in the NBA getting rotation minutes or on the roster right now and and when you have that lack of aggressiveness to put together a competent team I don’t see how you can get a contract extension I don’t see how you can keep your position of power I don’t see how you can keep your job so look the writing was on the wall wall with Troy Weaver from from from day one from day one his first move was to trade away Bruce Brown for nothing for nothing for nothing absolutely nothing and at the time I think we all looked at it we went uh that’s that’s kind of weird but like he maybe wants to make his own team his own identity and now you look back at you just go oh this was totally indicative of how this entire I mean look that was maybe actually his most impactful move was trading away Bruce Brown for nothing because Bruce Brown was a crucial contributor on a title Contender um so yeah just he was trading seiku deoya you know right away was that necessary like I’m not saying he would have turned into this meaningful NBA player probably doesn’t but it’s like you look at the guys that he brought in and gave chances to and committed money to James wisman Marvin baggley these other guys that were on the end of the roster your Malachi Flyn of the world whatever and it’s like there was this this really quick decision to get rid of a young first round round pick from this team and it was just like I I just there was never really a plan like the the the first round draft picks we were all after the 2020 draft but all of the picks after that the Kade draft The Ivy dur draft like that all seemed like smart decisions Cade was the obvious pick Ivy was the obvious pick getting the first rounder to get Jaylen durren was a good move but it’s like there was nothing done that was like oh my gosh look at him go out and make these moves that are are winning moves by a front office it was just let me give a chance to this young player that never panned out let me give a chance to this young player that never panned out and the asset management was a a complete disaster let’s move on from Weaver here uh langon was also talked about in the piece from the athletic this is something that we’ve obviously known but he has the power to make key changes to the coaching staff and if you read the piece from the athletic Monty Williams was not mentioned by name one in that piece I think that’s incredibly incredibly telling uh I think we might know something as early as this upcoming week on the future of Monty Williams Jasper are you under the impression or are you of the belief that Monty Williams is gone should he be given another year to try to figure this thing out in Detroit it’s hard to say it’s really hard to say I oh God help me I think Monty Williams gets one more year and I this that might be surprising to you but I think the fact that he was not let go all like the same day as as Troy Weaver maybe that’s a respect thing maybe that’s a hey we want to see what the situation is at least sit down and talk with Monty but I think he might get another year that being said I would not be surprised at all if he’s gone and and part of that comes down back to what Troy Weaver said uh one he said that money is No Object two I want to go back to this quote where he said what was important to me was finding someone who was a Hands-On leader and effective Communicator that could connect with people motivate our front office and deliver results kind of seems like that was something that was lacking from the Pistons coaching staff this year as well we know all about Troy Weaver’s Mushmouth uh for his entirety of his career here um Monty William it seemed very much struggled with a lot of the same things that being said they did pay him a whole lot of money for a whole lot of years and while I can absolutely understand the desire of Pistons fans to move on from him I think that there is still a level of professional respect I think there is still a level of holy crap that is a lot of money to pay a guy to not work for for me for the next 5 years and I just think that while now now if you ask me do I think Monte Williams will end the year with the Pistons that is a different question um I could see them making a coaching coaching change during the season if things continue to go poorly but I think as of right now Monty Williams job is not safe but I think it is still there for him see I’m on the opposite side I think he’s gone I think it’s a it’s a formality at this point I I think it’s there’s some things that are going to happen here soon that are going to dictate the decision uh but I think he’s gone and and I and I know it’s been mentioned the the connection uh between Langan and James burgo who was on the the Pelican staff this past year I know bgo is highly highly considered the favorite to end up in Cleveland but the fact that we’re starting to hear coaches names and guys that could be an option for Detroit uh as their next head coach I think that’s also very very telling I just think the writing is on the wall here on what’s going to happen and again I think it’ll happen relatively quick quickly considering the timeline um look think there’s a world where you could give Monty another season I think a because of the money you’re committed to B because of his pedigree his history as a coach uh and C because of the lack of stability that this organization seemingly has right now I think you could make a case for all of those reasons as the case to give Monty Williams one more chance to try to salvage uh his job and to salvage his time as the Pistons head coach but at the same time if you look at last year and you look at the last two three years that have been wasted for the Pistons if you’re Tom Gores and you truly are committed to turning this thing around and doing so quickly I think the right option is to wipe the Slate clean give up the dead money that say saying that you’re willing to give up and go and find the next coach the right coach for this team uh it’s not to say that Monty Williams wasn’t considered to be the right coach at the time we all thought he was we all thought it was a great hire but now looking back looking at the fact that it was really just as he said the money brought him back to the table uh after turning down the job at the first time the Pistons went to him that should have been very very telling and I think if you’re the Pistons and you look at what’s happened under this past regime you have to wipe the Slate clean and start a new as some of your key young players have big-time contract extensions coming up and you either have to commit to them and commit to their continued development or you have to find guys that they are worthy of moving for and so I think that’s another key reason as these guys failed to develop properly under Monty Williams in his first year as to why you need to move on from him I truly don’t even believe that Williams is a bad coach he’s had a lot of success hell he took the Phoenix Suns to the championship not all that long ago but if you come to a new place and it works as poorly as it did in Detroit in year one you have to move on and if gors is willing to move on as he says he is he’s willing to give Langan the power to make the changes that he says he has the power to they will move on from Monty Williams here rather soon I’d say I I just think the difference between him and Weaver is one gorus was never truly sold on the tanking thing like I think he did it because he felt like this is what I have to try I don’t think it’s ever been something he’s wanted to do he wanted Monty Willams like that is why he went back to the table he threw that ridiculous Market resetting contract at him I just think that with with that there it’s going to be hard to convince Tom gor to do it is it going to be impossible no not at all Tom gor has been talked into a lot of dumber and smarter things in the past clearly um but I it just yeah like you said like it wasn’t that long ago he was he was the guy in Phoenix there there also though is that talk of James bgo for me personally I don’t love that like if we do get to that point and we can talk about it more if and when Monty Williams is let go but James bgo does not super mve me his teams in Charlotte were not especially fun to watch did not make great strides on either end of the court and and I know obviously Charlotte is like still such a it’s just constantly in a state of dysfunction like you talk about an organization that just does not work that’s like example onea but I don’t know going from Monty to bgo I I if I know that he’s going to stagger his lineups I’m all for it I guess like that’s how I feel about it at this point I I just want a coaching staff that is going to give you the bare minimum uh of of Competency and like modern NBA thinking that’s really all I’m asking for so if Monty is let go and the way I fall on is like I’m 55% in the camp stays 45% and the campy goes I do really think it’s a true tossup it’s going to be interesting to see though how Tran langon Goes about that if he’s just going to talk to Monty if he’s already got his mind set up or considering that he is a new entry into this organization if he’s going to talk to the players if he’s going to be talking to other people in the organization as well I think it’s going to be very interesting I don’t know if we’re going to see all that play out in public but I am interested to see how he comes to those decisions because as we keep saying this is a crucial crucial period of time where things have to move very very quickly yeah it will be very telling how quickly all of these decisions start to move over the next week or so I’m expecting we’ll get some more news next week uh if Monty Williams is let go I’ll be curious to see what names leak out as potential candidates uh to replace him as we mentioned James bgo certainly a candidate in you’ll see some other names that you’ve maybe seen or heard of before even dating back to the Pistons last coaching search when they ended up Hing Monty Williams as potential candidates to uh be the next head coach of this team that’s going to do it for this bonus edition of the Palace of Pistons podcast uh wherever you’re watching wherever you’re listening from please make sure to give the show a like follow subscription leave us a comment tell us what you think are you happy that the Pistons moved on from Troy Weaver who do you think is going to be the team’s next head coach uh do you like Michael blackone is coming in as a key uh official within the executive rankings of the Pistons front office we want to know what you think we love the commitment we love the engagement our numbers have seen a huge rise as of late and we so greatly greatly appreciate that so we hope that you’re going to continue to stick along with us at Palace of pistons for our continued coverage of the team so thank you so much for tuning in this week and we will see you guys next week for what will likely be another jamp PCT edition of the pal of Pistons [Music] podcast winess

Subscribe to PalaceOfPistons.com

On this special edition of the Palace of Pistons Podcast, Aaron Johnson and Jasper Apollonia are back to discuss the breaking news on Friday evening that the Detroit Pistons and general manager Troy Weaver were parting ways. They go into his tenure, his failures, and why the move made sense for both parties. They also analyze what Trajan Langdon officially being named as the organization’s new president of basketball operations means for head coach Monty Williams and the rest of the team.
Links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PalaceOfPistons
Website: https://palaceofpistons.com/
POP Podcast (Apple): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-palace-of-pistons-podcast/id1399579304
POP Podcast (Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/show/43cxvrnfqtt7YNBhYARoqm?si=c5dcf99b44914596
POP: After Dark (Apple): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pop-after-dark/id1656161480
POP: After Dark (Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/show/1guL5c5hgoUj3yj7MMOBbo?si=2ea31fa1e9dc40f8
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PalaceOfPistonsPodcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/palacepistons/
Aaron Johnson: https://twitter.com/ajohnsonnba

__________

IMPORTANT

*I do not own the NBA or college basketball footage used in this video. Its use is intended for the purposes of commentary only, under the guidelines of fair usage.*