AP Source: Pelicans hire Trajan Langdon as GM

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A person familiar with the situation says the Pelicans have hired Nets assistant general manager Trajan Langdon to serve as New Orleans’ GM under new executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Sunday because the hiring has not been announced.

Langdon is a former Duke and NBA player who also played professionally in Europe. The 43-year-old has served as Nets assistant GM since 2016 and has helped rebuild Brooklyn into a squad that qualified for the Eastern Conference playoffs as a sixth seed this season after finishing last in the East two seasons earlier.

Langdon interviewed with New Orleans for the top basketball operations job that went to Griffin in mid-April.

When Griffin was formally introduced by the Pelicans, he said he’d received a commitment from owner Gayle Benson to build up the management structure of the club. He has begun doing so by bringing in Langdon, and before that, hiring former Suns executive Aaron Nelson away from Phoenix to oversee injury prevention, rehabilitation, performance and recovery programs.