One of the youngest players in the draft, Ron Holland had an up and down season as part of a down year as a whole for the G League Ignite. As a two-time gold medalist in FIBA youth tournaments, winning gold in 2021 and 2022 for the U16 and U17 tournaments, Ron Holland made a name as a high schooler as one of the top talents with an ideal frame for a wing. In the G League Ignite, per Synergy Sports, he averaged 18.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.7 APG, 2.3 SPG, 0.8 BPG, and 3.2 TOPG on splits of 46/25/74. Below is his full scouting report:
Name: Ron Holland
Birth date: July 7, 2005
Height/Weight: 6’8/206
Wingspan/ standing reach: N/A
Hand size: N/A
Position: Small Forward
Pre-Draft team: G League Ignite
Tools: Athleticism, defense, scoring upside, motor
Strengths:
- Great athlete
- Ideal wing size with modern wing skills
- Quick to make a smart extra pass on the perimeter
- Explosive finisher towards the rim
- Comfortable using both hands as a slasher
- Has a good between the legs stepback that often freezes defenders
- Plus creator off the catch and less than 3 dribbles, making him an ideal wing
- Has great defensive mobility and versatility; can guard multiple positions, get long contests, and lock down slashers, especially as he gets stronger
- Has a great motor that keeps him in plays on both ends
- His slashing style projects to draw lots of fouls
- Comfortable absorbing and countering contact on drives
- Can make good reads on the perimeter to find open shooters; he helped John Jenkins get many open 3s, for example
- He is generally able to get a quick release on jumpers going from ball-pickup to off his fingertips
Areas for Improvement:
- Somewhat awkward base on jumpers
- Needs to get stronger; loses post positioning too easily because of lack of strength
- Has inconsistencies in his jump shot release; release timing can be inconsistent
- Must become more confident as a shooter; can get like a ‘deer in headlights’ on some jumpers
- Needs to improve consistent attentiveness off-ball; partially the system, partially him being slow at times to react to shots
- Negative assist to turnover ratio, so he will have to improve some decision-making
Swing Skills:
- Needs to improve court vision and decision-making at the rim when pressured/trapped
- Is he an off-ball wing or can he be a primary creator?
- Handle is mostly there; how high is his creation upside as he tightens his handle?
- How efficient can he be as a finisher over rim protectors?
- How high is his passing upside?
Summary:
Ron Holland is a swingman who needs to improve his jump shot efficiency, along with other minor habits to hit his upside as a modern wing with a great combination of size and athleticism. At the moment, Holland is a bit raw, but has realistic and attainable upside to fill in his game to become a complete scorer with defensive prowess.
Offense:
At the moment, Holland has a variety of ways to beat defenses off the dribble, by going through, around, and away from defenders. With long strides on drives along with great timing on his two steps + gather step, it is rare to see clumsy footwork from him on drives, although he can be most prone to traveling off the catch and into drives. This should begin to fade away as the game begins to slow down for him, as he can speed himself up on the catch too often.
Furthermore, regarding his slashing upside, his long strides make it hard for defenses to fully stay in front of him, especially against a second push through the initial contact. Holland does a good job of cleanly putting his shoulder into defenders with his momentum, often throwing off the balance of on-ball defenders. This allows for him to best use his length to get long finger rolls and other finishing moves off in traffic with both hands. Since his high school days when he was a star in the EYBL circuit as well as on the Team USA youth teams, Holland has had a comfortable left hand, which should only get better as he gets older.
Another area that is easy to find promise in as a slasher for Ron Holland is his ability to get downhill and efficiently finish in quick offense. On the season with the Ignite, Holland went 70-98 (71.4%) on transition rim attempts. These aren’t leak outs, but rather are often him grabbing rebounds and pushing the tempo by attacking backpedaling defenders while he uses his great athleticism + size combo to make him difficult to get a contest without fouling on (see below). Like the G League, the NBA is fast-paced (although not as much as the G League), and this could be an area that Holland is able to best utilize his finishing ability at the rim early in his career. Ideally, these transition finishing moves turn into successful drives in the halfcourt, where there is less room to operate.
On top of transition scoring, Holland projects to draw fouls well at the next level for all the same reasons he is a good slasher now in quick offense with realistic upside in the future. His ability to attack defenses, absorb contact, and navigate through traffic all make him an intriguing slasher. As a reminder, Holland did get to the free throw line well, but the stats can undersell that point because of the G League only taking 1 free throw.
Holland needs to tighten his handle, which is his next step to taking a jump as one of the most valuable roles in the NBA: a two-way shot-creating wing. Holland can easily get to most of his spots at all levels, but adding a handle that can get him in and out of traffic will go a long way into helping him hit his star upside. Additionally, Holland adding strength to bulldoze defenders without fouling at an even more consistent level will go a long way into winning plays in the future that he cannot win on drives today. If Holland can isolate defenders in moments when the team needs him to go out and generate some offense in a dying possession, he has a real chance to hit as the top player in the draft.
There are real possibilities for Holland to grow as a shot creator. Take these plays below as an example of how he can throw defenders off balance with explosion forward, then pulling the string and putting defenders in a disadvantage with a hard stepback. This move doesn’t come without a good handle, which means he could realistically add different types of stepbacks to his arsenal beyond his current side dribble and between the legs stepback.
While his 3 point shooting left a lot to be desired for scouts, his upper release is mostly fluid with projectable and mostly ideal form in how he releases the ball. What concerns scouts is that at times he can be too hesitant with his 3 point shot, passing up an open 3 because of a lack of confidence, then putting himself in a hole (see below) with almost no winning outcome.
Holland can often lose control on some of his shots, partially because of timing errors on the release, and other times because of an uneven base. I have touched on this before, but his touch seems to be promising. Controlling his shot to accurately shoot slightly off-balance or off the dribble will be key, and could be largely helped by some minor mechanical issues. His release on his shot is quick, in terms of picking up his dribble or catching until the ball is off of his fingertips, and his elbow rarely pops out.
As a passer, Holland can telegraph passes too often or throw weak and errant passes. With a negative assist:turnover ratio (85:99, per Synergy Sports), a lot can be attributed to him being 18 years old playing in arguably the fastest respected professional basketball league in the world. However, he can get too much tunnel vision on drives at times, or he pre-meditates his passes. This is something he will need to improve in the NBA, as shots that go up that should be a pass can be detrimental to offensive efficiency and can put a player in the coach’s doghouse.
Take this play below for example, where Holland beats his man off the catch out of the triple threat with an explosive first step, but panics because of the strong help defense, which throws off his gameplan. While this play shows a minor mistake in the process, it turns out to be detrimental because it turns out to be a turnover. With the way Holland’s head is facing, noticing the wide open man behind the help defender, Holland shares that knowledge for the help defender since he can jump straight up and both cut off the pass and impact the shot. Being more composed and not having a tell in these situations are key for Holland to take that next level as a passer. Additionally, countering the counter in this instance will go a long way. On this play, the counter for Holland here is using his athleticism and length to use a long bounce pass below the help defender.
Lastly in the playmaking department, Holland’s passing woes get inflated by the lack of a true point guard whose ultimate goal is to be a pure playmaker on the roster. This was something many critics of the roster this year pointed out, along with how many mouths have to be fed, that hurt not only Holland but his other teammates that are seeking a first round selection in June’s draft. Because of this, Holland had to create opportunities he will rarely be put in as a rookie, and at times turned into a primary playmaker, which is not a role he is prepared for or suited to fill at this age.
Considering context as a playmaker is key in understanding his negative assist:turnover stat, and given over a quarter of his games amounted to 5+ assists, which gives flashes of the ultimate upside he possesses as an all-around offensive player that can make his teammates better. Ironing out consistency woes and making sure he is surrounded by the right people to help him build strong habits will be key in his development.
Another element to his game that makes scouts optimistic at times with his playmaking development is how he can recognize the holes in the defense as he gets into more favorable scoring positions, allowing for him to capitalize on broken defensive plays. With an unselfish mentality, Holland is more pass-first than he gets credit for with the ball in his hands. Take these plays below as good examples of being able to make some reads against collapsed defenses and finding holes in defensive breakdowns.
As Holland gets better at finding holes and reacting more quickly and accurately with age, this should help his playmaking efficiency. Balancing aggression with when to make the pass on some of these plays will be the next step to unlocking his overall offensive upside, as this will help him improve his reading of defenses and when to attack versus when to let the next man make a play. Some examples below:
The primary area Ron still needs to improve his passing in is against pressure near the rim, which is an area he can get tunnel vision at. Take these two shots in the same game for an example, and unfortunately this was not always a one-off.
Context is key for evaluating Ron Holland. He is one of the youngest players as a part of the NBA’s ‘next up’ program at a high tempo after bypassing college for the Ignite, it is important to note that Holland is one of the youngest players in the draft after being the last Ignite signing for the year. Additionally, winning has not been made a priority in the G League, which has put Holland’s skillset that he has on display with the wrong focal points alongside him.
Defense:
On-ball, Ron Holland has been an outstanding defender in every major competition he has played in for the entirety of the decade, dating back to the USA youth tournaments to high school & EYBL competition, and he showed some flashes in the G League. The G League is not friendly for defensive-minded prospects, which may be a reason that Holland’s defensive prowess didn’t immediately translate up, as well as the struggles surrounding his offense and playing the fastest tempo of his career.
With his length, motor, and athleticism Holland should profile as a high upside on-ball defender that can win physical battles as he gets stronger. Once Holland gets into an NBA strength & development program to develop his body, if he can learn to read offenses and the next play before it happens more efficiently, he will take a jump into hitting his full defensive upside. With
Off-ball, Holland played in an awkward defensive spot for a lot of the year, often staying in a hybrid help/corner defense, which often put him in a poor position to succeed as a secondary or help defender. More glaring is the fact that he can ball-watch too often, putting him a second behind in the play. In the NBA, every second matters with how skilled and quickly plays and decisions happen, which can put him behind on plays. This is one area where choosing the G League route may help Holland, being able to get him up to speed so that his NBA adaption will be less of a learning curve than his peers.
Overall, Holland’s ability to defend will come down to how quickly he adapts to schemes, how he reignites his defensive prowess that made him a top prospect out of high school, and how far his strong motor takes him. Holland will need some of the same success that other former top prospects that struggled between high school and the NBA have had, which is the benefit of the doubt regarding pre-draft team context.
What makes Holland different from the archetypes similar to him in the past? A big part of this is context, going from a clear-cut defined role as a two-way slasher with the realistic upside of a jumper. Some mechanics need to be ironed out in his base, but the shooting touch is there with creative scoring ability, while also getting many of his initial rookie-level woes out of the way ahead of most of his peers in the 2024 NBA Draft. Fit will be important for Holland, making sure he goes to a team that can minimize his weaknesses while maximizing his strengths, even if it doesn’t happen in year one. The worst thing that could happen to Holland is that he ends up in a situation where toxic habits are being built, like some rebuilding teams over the years have experienced.
Ideal fits:
- San Antonio Spurs
- Toronto Raptors
- Portland Trail Blazers
Projected draft range: 2-11
Expected role: Two-way wing that scores well at the rim early in his career, then turns into a 3 level scorer.
Unplayable if: Jump shot never improves enough to maintain satisfactory efficiency, thus limiting his slashing and overall gravity while negating lots of his defensive value.
Exceeds expectations if: Jump shot comes along and becomes a safely an above average shooter with confidence.
Videos:
https://twitter.com/MavsDraft/status/1685779440872165376 https://twitter.com/MavsDraft/status/1544556753215537153
Shot chart:
