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Carlos Boozer strode confidently through Zions Bank Basketball Center, the Utah Jazz training facility. Once upon a time, he walked this space as a player. Those were his All-Star days. His Olympian days. The days of Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko and the late, great Jerry Sloan. The days of Utah’s powder blue uniform. Today, Boozer is back with the organization, and, along with Avery Bradley, is a key cog in a front office tasked with selecting the fifth pick in Wednesday night’s NBA Draft. Utah’s war room will be different for Boozer, not only because he’s no longer a player, but also because the building has undergone renovations since his playing days. And we’re talking about a front office that has transitioned in general managers from Kevin O’Connor to Dennis Lindsey, to Justin Zanik, to Danny Ainge, and now to Austin Ainge.
Rival executives speak highly of Trajan Langdon, who just completed his first season as Detroit’s president of basketball operations, and of his staff—in particular Dennis Lindsey, a veteran team executive who played a key role in the Dallas Mavericks’ rise. The Pistons also have strong leadership bridging the basketball and business sides, with former superagent Arn Tellem running the club as vice chairman.
The Detroit Pistons announced today the finalization of their basketball leadership under President of Basketball Operations Trajan Langdon. Michael Blackstone has been named Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations, Dennis Lindsey has been named Senior Vice President, Basketball Operations and George David has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Basketball Administration. JR Holden returns to the Pistons, where he served in the front office from 2016-2018, as Vice President, Player Acquisition & Development, Greg Smith has been named Vice President, Player Health & Care and Eric Tellem has been promoted to Vice President, Player Personnel.
Langdon has been aggressive in gathering front office and coaching talent in recent weeks, hiring Mike Blackstone and Dennis Lindsey in his front office and now moving quickly to land Bickerstaff out of a field that included Dallas Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney, who made a strong impression in the process, sources said.
Mike Curtis: Harrison on Dennis Lindsey, who was hired by the Pistons: The good thing about Dennis is he has a lot of good experience. I learned a lot from him. He's a friend. He's someone I can go to for advice. That's not going to change. We just won't be talking about our respective teams.
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James Edwards III: Can confirm the Pistons are hiring Dennis Lindey, who a POBO finalist, as senior VP of basketball ops. POBO Trajan Langdon appears to have his FO guys in place — Lindsey, Michael Blackstone, J. R. Holden and George David. Again, don’t get caught up in titles.
Pistons hire Dennis Lindsey as Senior VP of Basketball Operations
Adrian Wojnarowski: The Detroit Pistons are hiring Dallas Mavericks executive Dennis Lindsey as the Senior VP of Basketball Operations, sources tell ESPN. Lindsey constructed the Utah Jazz era of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert and now goes to Detroit to join Trajan Langdon's new group.
Pistons targeting Mavericks senior adviser Dennis Lindsey
League sources tell The Stein Line that the Detroit Pistons have continued to show interest in hiring away Mavericks senior adviser Dennis Lindsey to join the front office team Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon is assembling.
Lindsey was a finalist for the lead job in Detroit that went to Langdon, meeting with Pistons owner Tom Gores during the process and, according to sources, has been discussed as an ongoing target for the Pistons.
Detroit used the search firm, Turnkey, to help gather some potential candidates, and while that process presented Gores with several worthy names, it was Langdon and Dennis Lindsey who were the finalists. Both candidates met with Gores several times over the last few weeks — both virtually and in person — before a decision was made, league sources tell The Athletic.
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Trajan Langdon, John Hammond, others emerge as contenders to run Pistons
Four names have emerged as top candidates for the Detroit Pistons president of basketball operations position, sources told Yahoo Sports. Trajan Langdon, Scott Perry, Dennis Lindsey and John Hammond have impressed in interviews and are front-runners to meet with Pistons owner Tom Gores, as the franchise hopes to fill the position before next month’s NBA Draft.
New Orleans’ Trajan Langdon, Dallas’ Dennis Lindsey and Chicago’s Marc Eversley, among others, have established themselves as viable targets for the role, league sources tell The Athletic.
The Pistons were denied permission to interview Milwaukee’s Jon Horst last week, league and team sources tell The Athletic. It is possible that the Bucks were posturing to get assets from Detroit in order to take Horst, who signed a multi-year deal with Milwaukee in 2021. However, the Pistons have decided to move on to other candidates. New Orleans’ Trajan Langdon, Dallas’ Dennis Lindsey and Chicago’s Marc Eversley, among others, have established themselves as viable targets for the role, league sources tell The Athletic.
The idea of former Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey joining the Mavericks’ front office under Nico Harrison, which came to fruition in April, was also mentioned. ... Lindsey’s return to the front-office ranks, and the Mavericks’ potential to win big around Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving, should place the former Utah lead executive back in the interview pool in the foreseeable future as well. It is a phenomenon across professional sports, that winning leads to rival teams wanting to poach the minds who built and coached successful rosters. For that matter, Sacramento’s turnaround has league personnel pinpointing Kings assistant general manager Wes Wilcox as another strong candidate to receive a second chance as a team’s lead decision-maker. Wilcox has refashioned himself as an ideal complement to Kings general manager Monte McNair after leading the Hawks, helping to build the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs after Sacramento’s 16-season postseason drought.
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