Trajan Langdon

[Rip32]

Honestly what's your thoughts on this guy? Personally, I think the jury is still out and the cake isn't done yet. Most of our core players were drafted by Weaver. Is TL a good drafter of talent? He did draft Holland and Klintman but they haven't made a real impact.

Now, TL has made some nice cheap signings in Beasley, Harris and THJ. It's left to be seen what the new players will do this season. At some point, a great GM has to be able to do both: draft and sign free-agents. Signing free agents was Troy Weavers kryptonite imo.

[Uncle Mxy]

He hasn't achieved multiple championships in his first season, so clearly he's a failure.

Seriously, he did more in his first year than what most anticipated. He put in a solid coach, and moves have been solid, overall. He seems level-headed, and we're on the right track. I'm happy to ride with Trajan.

[Cowology]

I'll roll with TL until he gives me good reason to doubt him. So far so good.

[Crymson]

I think he's had a promising start. Whether or not he can build a contender remains to be seen.

It helps that Gores seems to be past his bumbling amateurism. But though that was an impediment to Dumars and SVG, they were also incompetent whilst employed by him, and Stefanski was aggressively mediocre as usual. Weaver was Weaver. Etc.

[bstein14]

The biggest thing he has done thus far, and the thing Weaver didn't do... is he's been patient. Not always blowing all our spending money minutes into FA. Not trading away players before seeing what they are all about, etc. He also seemingly made a really good coaching hire. Verdict is still out on Holland at #5 but you can see the potential there its really about whether or not he can add a reliable shot.

We obviously don't know what type of deals he has missed out on or passed up, but he also has been pretty conservative with FA signings... lots of 1 and 2 year deals handed out essentially.

[chrbal]

1 season. Him adding Harris and basically scraps, resulted in tripling the win total from the previous season shows how bad Weaver was at anything but drafting. And it’s not like he was superb at that.

The structure of the Robinson contract and getting Levert when they had to last minute pivot was a solid gamble

I personally would like to see more depth in the frontcourt especially, but it’s not like we’re going to get someone worthwhile at this point without going at RFAs

Also this is just his second season

Troy’s “kryptonite” was roster building, and seeing what he’s part of in New Orleans…still is roster building

[hoophabit]

Trajan is certainly owed a good look. He seems very deliberate and that's a good trait in his role. As regards last year's surprising progress, likely Cade finally being healthy benefited Trajan and JB. That said, Trajan did assemble that group and picked up Schroder to salvage it, and so deserves credit.

[theBigLip]

Lots of good stuff:
- Hire Bickerstaff
- Draft Holland in a historical weak draft
- Sign Tobias (I had doubts)
- Pickup badly needed Schroeder at deadline for nothing
- Being shrewd w cap space and draft picks

Questionable:
- Leaving backup and/or future PF slot empty

All said, he’s been solid. And more patient than me or most posters

[Snakebites]

TL understands the assignment.

He went out and got the players we needed last offseason. He hired a coach who was the right man for the current stage of the rebuild. He set up our young guys for success while building a more sensible roster around them. At the trade deadline he recognized our need for another ball handler and went out and got one- a guy who proved to be critical to our playoff success.

This offseason? He had to make some lemonade from some lemons given we were priced out of the Schroder market and the whole debacle with Malik Beasley. He did the best he could replacing the guys we lost and I think he did a decent job given the circumstances.

It's nice to have a front office that seems to "get it".

Is he executive of the year material? Perhaps not. But as Cow says we haven't had cause to doubt him.

[tmorgan]

He seems to get it.

If we’d already locked up Ivey and Duren for 50 mil a year together I’d be having my doubts, because thst doesn’t make sense given the info we have. I’m as guilty as anyone of bias towards guys already on the roster, but realistically, Jaden and Jalen are replaceable by a dozen guys each that don’t make 25 mil a year. They wouldn’t be exact replicas — likely wouldn’t be as fast as Ivey or as good at finishing inside as Duren — but the total package would be just as effective.

The philosophy that “you can’t lose players for nothing” isn’t true unless you’re operating way over the aprons and are talking about irreplaceable salary slots. That’s not where we are, thanks to the one thing Weaver did correctly — not over-committing to players that won’t move the needle. I assume one of the reasons Langdon wanted to come here (besides the obvious, opportunity to sit in the big chair) was the clean cap sheet that over half the league doesn’t have right now. Any long term commitments TL wants to make are his choice. He’s choosing (so far at least) to ride with Cade and otherwise keep his options open. I like that because it makes sense.

Hard choices are coming up fast. That’ll determine whether he’s merely competent or actually good. Either one is still a step up from his recent predecessors, but let’s hope he’s actually a top level guy that can make the hard decisions and keep us relevant AND flexible.

[Crymson]

This offseason? He had to make some lemonade from some lemons given we were priced out of the Schroder market and the whole debacle with Malik Beasley. He did the best he could replacing the guys we lost and I think he did a decent job given the circumstances.

For what it's worth, the Pistons basically chose to be priced out of the Schroder market; they were able to offer him more money than any other team not named the Nets. They just chose against doing so. The decision to go for LeVert over Schroder seems to have been deliberate and based on a desire for more size and downhill scoring.

[Snakebites]

This offseason? He had to make some lemonade from some lemons given we were priced out of the Schroder market and the whole debacle with Malik Beasley. He did the best he could replacing the guys we lost and I think he did a decent job given the circumstances.

For what it's worth, the Pistons basically chose to be priced out of the Schroder market; they were able to offer him more money than any other team not named the Nets. They just chose against doing so. The decision to go for LeVert over Schroder seems to have been deliberate and based on a desire for more size and downhill scoring.

We could have offered more than the Kings, but it would not have been a good idea to do so given our roster construction. He was worth more to the Kings than to us.

[tmorgan]

Schroder’s either going to start or play very heavy minutes off the bench for the Kings, and thus they could rationalize paying him that much.

With Ivey back, Schroder was looking at 15 mpg here. Just didn’t make sense to make an eight figure per year offer for multiple years.

Glad Dennis got paid and got some future stability, he earned it. Also glad it wasn’t here.

[Kilo]

He has u til the beginning of 2026-2027 Season for me before I pass any judgement. TDL this season or in the off-season TL needs to get Cade's Robin.

Trades for such players gut teams usually, so I would like to see that TPE used to add rotational depth piece that could be included in the Big One trade, meaning we'd keep another of the current players, or slide up the depth chart to replace one of the outgoing players. This is why I wouldn't be opposed to Cam Thomas for the right price.

I still think the eventual deal will be Ivey, Duren, one of Holland or Ausar and multiple FRP's and pick swaps for an >/= 28yr old PF with term on contract.

[Crymson]

We could have offered more than the Kings, but it would not have been a good idea to do so given our roster construction. He was worth more to the Kings than to us.

I'm not unhappy at what happened, but what do you mean?

Schroder’s either going to start or play very heavy minutes off the bench for the Kings, and thus they could rationalize paying him that much.

With Ivey back, Schroder was looking at 15 mpg here. Just didn’t make sense to make an eight figure per year offer for multiple years.

Glad Dennis got paid and got some future stability, he earned it. Also glad it wasn’t here.

Schroder would've been looking at the same minutes LeVert is set to receive.

[tmorgan]

We could have offered more than the Kings, but it would not have been a good idea to do so given our roster construction. He was worth more to the Kings than to us.

I'm not unhappy at what happened, but what do you mean?

Schroder’s either going to start or play very heavy minutes off the bench for the Kings, and thus they could rationalize paying him that much.

With Ivey back, Schroder was looking at 15 mpg here. Just didn’t make sense to make an eight figure per year offer for multiple years.

Glad Dennis got paid and got some future stability, he earned it. Also glad it wasn’t here.

Schroder would've been looking at the same minutes LeVert is set to receive.

Disagree. Caris can play up quite a bit. Dennis cannot.

[flow]

This offseason? He had to make some lemonade from some lemons given we were priced out of the Schroder market and the whole debacle with Malik Beasley. He did the best he could replacing the guys we lost and I think he did a decent job given the circumstances.

For what it's worth, the Pistons basically chose to be priced out of the Schroder market; they were able to offer him more money than any other team not named the Nets. They just chose against doing so. The decision to go for LeVert over Schroder seems to have been deliberate and based on a desire for more size and downhill scoring.

It wasn't Levert over Schroder. It was Levert instead of Beasley. Levert is who Langdon pivoted to when Beasley fell through.

[Crymson]

Disagree. Caris can play up quite a bit. Dennis cannot.

With Schroder, the vast majority of the guard minutes would have gone to the trio of Cade, Ivey, and Schroder.

With LeVert, the vast majority of the guard minutes will be going to the trio of Cade, Ivey, and LeVert.

No playing up the lineup will be required for LeVert to get his minutes.

It wasn't Levert over Schroder. It was Levert instead of Beasley. Levert is who Langdon pivoted to when Beasley fell through.

Robinson is Beasley's replacement. LeVert and Beasley have very little in common.

[tmorgan]

Disagree. Caris can play up quite a bit. Dennis cannot.

With Schroder, the vast majority of the guard minutes would have gone to the trio of Cade, Ivey, and Schroder.

With LeVert, the vast majority of the guard minutes will be going to the trio of Cade, Ivey, and LeVert.

No playing up the lineup will be required for LeVert to get his minutes.

It wasn't Levert over Schroder. It was Levert instead of Beasley. Levert is who Langdon pivoted to when Beasley fell through.

Robinson is Beasley's replacement. LeVert and Beasley have very little in common.

As long as you’re in the mood to argue about tiny things — which, it seems to me, you always are — let’s do it.

Caris won’t NEED to play the three to get his minutes, but he can. Schroder cannot. Therefore, Caris can get more minutes on this roster in case of injuries or foul trouble or whatever.

Further, even within the guard minutes, Caris provides additional flexibility. If you run Cade and Schroder out there, someone isn’t doing what they are best at. Cade and Caris is a much better fit, because LeVert can catch lobs and is used to playing as a spot up on occasion.

Or, generally: Schroder is a 1, always plays the 1, usually guards the 1. That’s not much flexibility. Caris isn’t really a 1 but can pretend to be for short stretches, and is definitely a 2 or 3 as well.

[the_l_train]

I’d argue Caris is the THJ replacement if anything. Can’t believe how many people him are thinking of him as a backup PG…he is a ball stopper.