By: The Raptor and Amdaymond
We're back at it discussing this time the GLI, who have completed their preseason by playing in games against the Australian juggernaut Perth Wildcats, and competing in the FIBA Intercontinental cup. You don't have to see too far into the league to understand the impact GLI has had on the league, producing several lottery picks and potentially boasting a few this year. Jonathan Kuminga is currently taking on a bigger role with the Warriors, Jalen Green is looking for a leap with Houston, Dyson Daniels will likely have a major role in the Pelicans' future plans, Jaden Hardy has found a role on the Dallas Mavericks, and MarJon Beauchamp may get minutes on a championship team this year. And that doesn't even include Scoot Henderson, a potential superstar and lottery pick who could embarrass the Charlotte Hornets' organization forever. This year, the Ignite's roster may be the most stacked to date, a list of high end prospects, good veterans, and some pretty good depth in their prospects as well. We'll start by giving thoughts on Ron Holland, who's really impressed in the first few games of the Ignite's season and who one of us believes should be the consensus top prospect in the draft.
Ron Holland
POS: Wing
HEIGHT: 6-8
WEIGHT: 195 pounds
WINGSPAN: 6-10.5
DRAFT AGE: 19.5
TheRaptor
Holland is the most talented and developed athlete in this draft class by a lot. His combination of size, speed, athleticism, and strength fit perfectly for what a modern NBA forward looks like, and Holland has the skillset that makes his upside all the more intriguing.
Holland dominates as a slasher, and it’s the one skill that I expect to translate to the NBA right away. He used all those physical tools I mentioned to blow by defenders on drives to the rim and get himself easy looks in the paint. When someone comes to contest his shot around the rim, Ron has no problem adjusting to this in order to still get the points. The shot definitely still needs to improve, but it has steadily been improving over time. Holland won’t ever be an elite shooter in the NBA barring any crazy development jump, but I think it wouldn’t be crazy for him to be at least a league average shooter, maybe a little bit better then that.
I’ve worried about Ron’s self creation in the past, but his performances in the G-League have tramped all those concerns. His handle isn’t excellent, but it’s good enough for me to be really intrigued with Ron’s upside on offense. His physical tools give him a leg up over pretty much anyone who stands in his way, and at this point I think that’s enough for Ron to be a #1 or #2 scoring options on a good NBA team one day.
Passing isn’t Ron’s biggest strength, but it is definitely something to keep in mind for the future. He makes some really nice reads with the ball in his hands and has been an effective connective passer over the years. Im not saying he is ever going to be a point forward in the NBA, but scouts should be keeping an eye on Ron Holland’s passing ability
On the other side of the ball, Ron Holland is an excellent defender with the upside to be a force to be reckoned with in the NBA. Excuse me for bringing up his physical tools again, but Holland’s combo of speed and strength really make themselves evident on the defensive side of the ball. He is quick enough to stick with smaller forwards and even guards around the perimeter while also having the strength to give bigger players a run for their money in the post and around the rim. Im still undecided on where a peak Ron Holland could be defensively. I don’t think it’s a DPOY level, but I don’t think it’s not an all nba defense level. I guess time will tell where Ron’s defensive upside truly lies. No matter what though, we can expect Holland to be a good defender in the NBA.
#### Incase you don’t want to read all of that writing, let’s review what we have talked about in a quick summary. Holland is an excellent athlete, slasher, and defender. He isn’t a point forward, but the passing ability is there and intriguing. His handle isn’t all there, but his physical tools make up for that most of the time. His shot needs work, but it’s been looking a lot better.
Ron Holland is a really good prospect, and one that could hear his name called first on draft night. He still has flaws, but he has a lot of strength and the tools to be a really good player in the NBA. Im not totally sure how much upside we should be betting on Ron Holland having because I am still a little bit worried about his handle and how that translates to the NBA for him being a shot creator, but I think we can safely say he has a higher floor than most prospects with enough upside to receive consideration for being the #1 pick in the draft. Personally I wouldn’t rank him there at this moment, but he is a top 3 prospect in this draft class right now on my board, and I am super excited to see what the future holds for Ron Holland.
Me
Holland stands out as one of the GLI's widely regarded potential top 5 picks, and he's likely to enter the season as the best prospect on my board. Holland's potential is tantalizing. He possesses both the athletic flashes that former Texas commits Dillon Mitchell and Greg Brown Jr. have shown, as well as the advantage creating highlights that put him on a Thompson-twin esque trajectory. What Holland has shown in the Ignite's preseason - he's played in all five games - is some elite highlights as well as some lowlights that can be polished off.
Beginning with Ron's offense, the first thing that really popped on film was the skill. From a bunch of draft sources I had deduced that Holland was an athletic freak and a great defensive presence, but I had no idea he could show how much offensive skill he had against professional competition. As you would expect for someone with long strides and elite full court speed, he's a nightmare to defend in transition and a master of generating rim pressure, taking the necessary angles and executing timely counters to completely dissect and dismantle a defense. At the moment, his handle at high speeds and in the half court isn't perfect, but what really impressed me was his willingness to execute tough moves while possessing no fear of any potential mistakes. He does lose the ball and is suspect to live dribble turnovers, but he also plays through the craziness of the game well and finds ways to make plays work. He's already demonstrated an ability to blow by defenders using crafty angles, crossovers, and straight up filthy moves that make you stand up. At the rim, his bag isn't deep yet, but he shows an ability to finish off of both one and two feet, jumping in stride, and decent touch from the games I've watched, as well as elite control. While he's not an elite playmaker yet consistently firing one hand crosscourt passes he's also demonstrated a fundamental understanding for making kickout passes and finding his teammates as well, which further boosts the chances he becomes a positive-impact isolation scorer for a team.
His shooting, while sporadic, also was very impressive. Holland was comfortably getting into jumpers, off the catch and off the dribble, even knocking down difficult stepback threes. The arc looks good on his jumper and his form looks pretty consistent from what I can tell, which is a good sign for his NBA fit. He can even occasionally get into a pull up mid range jumper, which is rare for a player of his prototype and yet another sign that he's willing to try just about everything. Between his cutting and the immense lob threat he poses at the rim, I also think along with being a decent C&S shooter he'll be a weapon off ball if need be, further improving his chances of carving out a role in the league.
The defense, one of the most hyped parts in the game, didn't necessarily live up to expectations for me. It's not like like Holland is an atrocious defender, but he wasn't necessarily elite, either. He has the basic tools to be excellent on this end: excellent vertical athleticism, quick feet for lateral sliding, and great ground coverage, but while he can slide his feet and get a stop on the perimeter, when he did get beat, he was poor at turning his hips, recovering, and getting back in the play. He put a lot of pressure on Ivan Almansa to protect the rim by not doing that, and a lot of scores. In addition, the screen navigation isn't great, and while you think one of his body caliber would be great switching onto bigger guys, he can get backed down in the post pretty easily and scored on. The off ball defense was pretty good, however. He showed an ability to turn defense into offense by shooting through passing lanes and also being a playmaker, and he has elite potential to be a havoc-y help defender with his vertical pop and ground coverage. I have hope that some of Holland's defensive warts were just due to the games being preseason. When games are really close and on the line, he's shown a sense of urgency and an ability to lock in defensively. That gives me some hope he'll be a positive on this end, and potentially more.
Overall, while everything isn't completely polished in every area of Holland's game, he's having a great developmental experience in the G League. His willingness to make mistakes will help him in the long run to reach his full potential. Unlike some other unreliable ultra-athletic wings in the past, I could see Holland thriving in a variety of roles. In a low-end scenario, an elite cutter and lob threat whose a defensive specialist. In a middle scenario, he could be a great secondary and tertiary option who does just about everything on the floor, and in an absolute high end scenario, he becomes a No. 1 option and elite creator for a really good team. Overall, I really like Holland's game, and his interview with Kevin O'Connor (recommend you watch that if you want to know more about Holland) gives background checks about his personality as well. That's why he's very likely to be my top prospect coming into 2023-24.
That concludes Ron Holland's prospect preview for the year. Make sure to tune in a couple days for writeups on Matas Buzelis, Izan Almansa, and more guys during this series. Thanks for reading!