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Pelicans hire Trajan Langdon as GM to work with David Griffin

By Net Income
NBAE/Getty Images

Trajan Langdon, Sean Marks’ first hire as assistant GM, is leaving the Nets for the Pelicans where he become GM and work David Griffin who New Orleans just hired as executive vice -president of basketball operations.

Shams Charania of The Athletic broke the news in a tweet...

The Pelicans later confirmed the report.

Langdon worked with Marks primarily in a scouting and development role. He was assigned to scout the top 35 to 40 prospects in the NBA Draft and was general manager of the Long Island Nets, winning G League executive of the year honors this season.

The 43-year-old veteran of both the NBA and Euroleague will essentially be No. 2 to Griffin, who’s three years older. Griffin was hired by Gayle Benson, who succeeded her late husband as the Pelicans’ principal owner.

“From the moment I met with Mrs. Benson and her team, it became clear that her commitment to the success of our franchise is absolute,” said Griffin in a statement.

“This is one more very clear sign of that commitment. Trajan is a tremendous talent and shares in our vision of what it means to be a part of the Pelican family, on and off the floor. We are excited to add he and his family to our leadership group as we continue building upon that vision.”

The Pelicans of course are in the midst of a crucial off-season. They hold the rights to the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft, which they will use on Zion Williamson but they’re also trying to figure out if their franchise player, Anthony Davis, can be convinced to stay in New Orleans. Davis has said he wants to be traded but Griffin has said he hopes he can get Davis to stay. If not, he’ll have to work out a trade that’ll start a rebuilding process.

Langdon is the third Nets staffer to agree to a new job this off-season. Will Weaver, the Long Island Nets head coach and G League coach of the year, has been hired to be head coach of the Sydney Kings in Australia’s NBL and Chris Fleming, who developed the Nets offensive schemes as an assistant coach, has been named lead assistant for the Bulls.

As to who may replace Langdon, rumors out of Italy earlier this month had Gianluca Pascucci, the Nets director of global scouting, replacing Langdon if he left Brooklyn. Pascucci, who Kenny Atkinson credits with scouting and pushing Rodions Kurucs, was director of player personnel for the Rockets prior to the Nets hiring him in 2016.

Langdon had previously been considered for GM jobs with the Wizards and Timberwolves,

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