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Well, damn:
Note on Pistons continuing front-office search: Shane Battier has withdrawn from consideration for a leading front-office role in Detroit, sources tell ESPN.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) May 29, 2018
One word to describe this? Unfortunate. Shane Battier’s overall intelligence, relative youth, prior front office experience (as Director of Basketball Development and Analytics for the Miami Heat), and Michigan ties (he grew up in Birmingham and attended Detroit Country Day) made him an ideal candidate for a position in whatever front office Ed Stefanski and the Detroit Pistons (still feels weird to type that) find themselves constructing in the future.
With one candidate down, Pistons fans await word regarding Brent Barry, former Piston Tayshaun Prince, Jeff Bower, Trajan Langdon, and other mystery candidates for General Manager, among other front office positions in Detroit. Langdon, in particular, is a name that continues to appear, unbidden:
The #Nets’ Trajan Langdon is a front office name I’ve been hearing for a few weeks. Has a background in scouting, too. Only 42.
— James Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) May 24, 2018
#Nets Trajan Langdon is still the name to watch here https://t.co/rK6PG066WM
— Rod Beard (@detnewsRodBeard) May 29, 2018
To spin this positively, perhaps the Pistons have an offer in the bank and that individual has no relationship with Battier, lessening the reason for him to leave the comfortable climate and position in Miami.
...You’re right, that’s awful spin.
Whether it’s Langdon or another individual, the Pistons still have a lot of work cut out for them in a very short period of time - the NBA Draft is in about three weeks, and free agency starts shortly thereafter. There’s a line where deliberating becomes debilitating, and the Pistons are sneaking up on it.