​Since taking over the Detroit Pistons two years ago, president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon has been deliberate in his approach to rebuilding. The team’s explosive improvement in that span – more than quadrupling its win total, from 14 in 2023-24 to 60 this past season – has come despite a relative lack of fireworks in free agency and the trade market. At this time last year, few, if any, were predicting the Pistons would earn the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed and fall a victory short of making the East finals so soon after the worst season in franchise history. But so they did. And yet, May’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the NBA playoffs exposed their shortcomings, particularly on offense. There was an understanding that the team, to some extent, would need to change this summer in order to evolve. SHAKING THINGS UP: 3 intriguing lineups new-look Detroit Pistons may explore in 2026-27“We all want to get better,” Langdon said in June. “I can’t stand here and say we don’t want to get better, so getting better means you’ve gotta win the second round to get better. It doesn’t necessarily mean we need to win 64 games, I don’t think we’re trying to do that, though if we do that would be fantastic. But I think we know that we need to be more equipped to compete in the postseason and that’s what we’re looking at doing. “Like I already said, it’s adding pieces that help accentuate our three best players, our core three players, and I think that will help us in the regular season and post season as well. That all goes into the belief we feel like we can be better.” Roughly five weeks from training camp, the Pistons’ transaction list this summer reveals two priorities. They’ve added more shooting, addressing last year’s biggest weakness. And they’ve continued rounding out their depth with players on affordable contracts, which will not only help them sustain the rigors of an 82-game season but aid them if they do eventually decide to trade for a big name and turn their “core three” – Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson – to a quartet. The front office hunted for splashy upgrades, but weren’t willing to meet the asking price to acquire players such as Kevin Durant or Kawhi Leonard. In an offseason marked by a drift of superstars from West to East, the Pistons are once again leaning on internal development. This hasn’t been a conservative summer, though. Tobias Harris and Isaiah Stewart are significant departures, but the team made two meaningful additions in John Collins and Isaiah Joe, who both knocked down more than 40% of their 3-point attempts last season. They are big upgrades to an offense that was overly reliant on Duncan Robinson’s outside shooting. According to Cleaning The Glass, the Pistons’ offense averaged 10.2 more points per 100 possessions with Robinson on the floor – the highest individual improvement on the team and a 98th