Grizzlies prospect profile and fits: Ron Holland

Ron Holland’s stock fell in a bad G League Ignite context, but has the skillset to evolve into a 2-way star. Can the Grizzlies be patient with his development, and reap rewards of his upside?

Ron Holland, Wing, G League Ignite

• Measurements: 6’6.5” (without shoes), 196.8 pounds, 6’10.75” wingspan

• Age: 18 years old

• Per-36 (via Tankathon): 22.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.6 steals, 1.0 blocks

• Mock Draft placement: 7 - Blazers (NBA Big Board, Yahoo Sports), 8 - Spurs (Tankathon), 9 - Grizzlies (The Athletic, Bleacher Report, The Ringer), 10 - Jazz (No Ceilings, ESPN), 11 - Bulls (CBS Sports)

• Big Board placement: 10 (ESPN), 9 (Tankathon), 6 (The Ringer), 11 (No Ceilings), 10 (NBA Big Board), 7 (The Athletic)

Ron Holland came into the pre-draft cycle as a potential #1 pick, but a rough season with the G League Ignite has given him a wide variance from the top-5 to barely inside the lottery.

Before diving into the scouting report, we have to acknowledge that the G League Ignite context was horrible. There was no guard play and very little floor spacing. While Holland may contribute to it slightly — mainly as a shooter — he wasn’t given the infrastructure to succeed.

Even through the context, he outlined a path where he could evolve into the best player in this draft class down the road. So I give slight benefit of the doubt. Despite this belief, Holland still has a ways to go to achieve that level — which is a reason for his wide range on the board.

Scouting Report

Looking at the film

The core of Holland’s arsenal is his driving ability. He touches the paint at will — leveraging his footwork and his physicality downhill towards the basket. It’s the skill that can serve as the catalyst for the rest of his game.

Holland’s assertiveness downhill not only parlays into points in the paint, but also in free throw attempts. He doesn’t shy away from contact — in fact, he relishes it.

While Holland is a persistent paint touch, his aggressiveness can easily become adamant. He’s prone to having tunnel vision on his way to the basket. In the process, he puts himself into suboptimal finishing angles and windows through multiple defenders.

With the tunnel vision come turnovers. Chaos can ensue when he’s driving downhill, as expected for a young wing in a poor offensive system. He needs to sharpen up his handle and let the game come to him.

The biggest key for Holland’s development is mapping out potential counters when defenses stifle the paint, or else the core of his game will be minimized. The counters could come in 3 instances: playmaking (drive-and-kick, or blitz reading), outside shooting (keeping the defenses honest with the threat of a respectable jumper), and the mid-range game.

Holland showed some playmaking flashes, particularly in drive-and-kick’s and within the flow of the offense. If he drove to the lane and had to pull his dribble, he leveraged his pivot foot well to find an open teammate from beyond the arc.

The main hurdle that can potentially slow down Holland’s driving attack is his outside shooting. His jumper is spotty, and defenders could sag off and shut down any driving lanes when he has the ball. For his next team, he’s going to be off the ball, so he needs even marginal improvements as a shooter — or else he’s going to cramp the floor spacing.

He doesn’t even need to become a lights-out shooter to tap into his driving attack. Developing his mid-range as a counter, especially with his size and ball-handling, would do wonders for his offensive game. It’s an inconsistent skill at the moment, but he flashed upside in this department.

Holland has the tools and tenacity to be a relentless defender, as it’s an area he prides himself in. However, he has to sharpen up to become a more consistent defender.

Holland can give too much leeway to drivers, not recovering much if they gain a step on him. With his rotations, he either closes out too hard at times. Others, he rotates too late, as he ball-watches a bit — also wonder if the late rotations are more related to processing or effort.

Nonetheless, tightening up his defensive weakness could make him a devastating defender.

When locked in, Holland wreaks havoc. At the point of attack, he hounds opponents with his tenacity and physicality — navigating screens and shutting the water off on drives.

Holland is an aggressive off-ball defender as well. When his gambling pays off, he generates a ton of deflections and steals.

Holland’s defensive event generation leads to cycle, as he’s a freight train in the open floor as a play initiator and finisher.

One final note, Holland will be off the ball more often than not on his next team. It’d be smart for him and his team to tap into his slashing attack as a cutter, or even in short roll situations.

Fit with the Grizzlies

If the Grizzlies are looking to stack as many bigger wings as possible next to the Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane trio, then Ron Holland should be at the top of the list.

Out of the perimeter players, only Morant and Bane are better than Holland at touching the paint. The rest of the offensive fit is pretty murky at this stage of Holland’s development. He’s a non-shooter that was pretty ball-dominant with the Ignite. How could the Grizzlies get creative with his usage?

They could tap into his slashing abilities to utilize him as a play-finisher to start his career. Holland could be more of a screen-and-roller — capitalizing off advantages created in the short roll, and leveraging his athleticism as a springboard to the rim. If he’s in the corner, he can lurk as a cutter — roaming the baseline to benefit from being behind the backline of the defense.

Defensively, Holland has the potential to add role depth for perimeter defenders. As we’ve seen in the postseason with the Timberwolves and Celtics, boasting as many sizable perimeter stoppers as possible is advantageous for generating stops. They could really shut the water off when defending on a string. Holland has to sharpen up off the ball to reach that level, but he’s a ferocious individual defender that can stifle drives and shot attempts.

In addition, the Grizzlies thrive off generating cycles (turnovers into offense). Holland is a disruptive event creator that can fly up the floor in transition for easy finishes.

While Holland has intriguing 2-way potential, his immediate impact is more questionable. For starters, it may be nice to flush out anything from the G League Ignite context. In addition, he’s raw as a complementary player, because he’s not a shooting threat. Moves pending, he won’t jump Marcus Smart, Vince Williams Jr., or GG Jackson in the pecking order. If drafting Holland leads to not bringing back Luke Kennard, it’s a dicey bet that could crush their floor-spacing.

Of the potential available prospects, Holland strikes a big conundrum. He’s talented and has the upside to become one of the best players in this class. However, can the Grizzlies afford to wait on his potential to materialize? If the Grizzlies make moves to minimize the year-1 expectations on Holland, he would join GG Jackson as another high-upside wing to add around the core on a rookie-scale contract over the next several years.

Final note: Holland ranks high on my personal board, currently in my top-5, but it may not reflect how I’d build a Grizzlies-specific board. Landing a talent like Holland at #9 could end up being quite a heist. However, it may not pay off immediately — though an escape from the horrendous G League Ignite context could prove other. He needs to refine his offensive game to expand upon the extraordinary rim pressure he applies — reading the defense to find open teammates, keeping defenses honest with a semblance of an outside jumper, or developing the mid-range jumper as a counter. For the Grizzlies, it’ll hinge on their level of patience with his development.

Will he be there at 9? At the moment, it looks like Holland will be there at 9. However, he seems like a prime candidate to rise in the pre-draft process with his workouts and his defensive mindset.

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