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Oct 14, 2024

Central Notes: Pistons, Bucks, Cavs, Collet, Haliburton | Hoops Rumors

Pistons owner Tom Gores is pleased with the way that new president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon identified three-point shooting and veteran leadership as priorities in his first summer on

Pistons owner Tom Gores is pleased with the way that new president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon identified three-point shooting and veteran leadership as priorities in his first summer on the job and made moves to address those areas, according to Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. Langdon and the Pistons’ front office signed Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley, and Paul Reed as free agents and traded for Tim Hardaway Jr.

“The core of the way we thought is we have this young group of players that need to be developed and also need to be complemented with the right players,” Gores said. “I feel really good about the veterans we’ve added. Tobias, who I’ve known for a long time, we have Beasley and Hardaway and Reed that’s come in. I feel very good about the offseason with the veterans.

“We knew these young men were good, they have a lot of potential. All of them. You see (Jaden) Ivey‘s really coming along well. But all of that said, we needed to complement them with the right thing so they could grow properly. I’m pretty excited. That’s how we approached it. We have a core that we believe in and we’ve got the veterans added in.”

The other major move that Gores signed off on during Langdon’s first offseason was the decision to part ways with Monty Williams even though the veteran head coach had five years left on the lucrative contract he signed with Detroit a year ago. Gores has no regrets about approving that coaching change after seeing the way J.B. Bickerstaff has handled the job so far.

“I think J.B.’s doing an incredible job communicating with the players and getting us organized,” Gores said. “I feel good. Everybody knows we have a lot of work to do, but we turned the page and we’re ready to go.”

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