There wasn’t any chaos. The Detroit Pistons have routinely been the talk of the NBA Draft the last few years, maneuvering every which way to leave the annual event with multiple lottery picks. It’s been a tornado of confusion to keep track of at times.
That was under former general manager Troy Weaver. Now under the new president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon, the Pistons got straight to the point.
Detroit selected the G League Ignite’s Ron Holland with the No. 5 pick in Wednesday night’s 2024 NBA Draft. The team, per league sources, had conversations with the Memphis Grizzlies, who held the No. 9 pick, about moving back but nothing substantial was presented to Detroit that was worthwhile.
The moment we selected @ron2kholland 🤝 pic.twitter.com/mO6QazBm6K
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) June 27, 2024
“I didn’t expect to go to Detroit,” said Holland, who said he had a workout with Detroit scheduled earlier in the process but it didn’t end up happening and also expected to go anywhere fourth through 13th. “It was a huge surprise to me. Now that it’s done, I’m excited and ready to get to work.”
Read Sam Vecenie’s winners and losers of NBA Draft Round 1.
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Let’s start with the good: The 6-foot-7 Holland, who is only 18, is a freak athlete. He was the Ignite’s best player last season, averaging 19.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. He is a great cutter and can get to the rim with line-drive and dribble-drive attacks. He might have the best motor, on both ends of the floor, in this class, with positional versatility on the defensive end to boot. If you’re a fan of what Ausar Thompson brings to the table, Holland possesses some of those qualities — even some of the less desirable ones.
Now to the bad: Like Thompson, Holland’s shot has a long way to go. He was under 30 percent on all jump shots in the G League and wasn’t a good free-throw shooter either. He wasn’t an efficient scorer with the Ignite, but some of that could be attributed to a poor roster and not a lot of structure on his team this past season. Additionally, Holland has to vastly improve his decision-making in the half court. He also had 11 more turnovers than assists this season.
Langdon insinuated at his introductory press conference last week that Detroit is very much still interested in building up its youth, so it’s not a surprise he and his staff elected to go for a high-upside swing in Holland, who is, arguably, one of the best prospects the Ignite has produced.
It was a bit of a mystery going into the draft about which way Langdon would go, as this is his first time running his own show. However, if you look at the New Orleans Pelicans, where Langdon was the general manager before coming to the Motor City, it was clear they had a type. Trey Murphy III (2021), Herbert Jones (2021) and Dyson Daniels (2022) are all versatile, 6-7 wings with wingspans of 6-10 or greater. Holland fits that archetype, with a 6-10 wingspan.
Drafting Holland further pushes the narrative that Detroit has a lot of faith in newly acquired assistant coach Fred Vinson, who is considered one of the better shooting coaches in the NBA. He has been credited with helping turn below-average 3-point shooters like Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Herb Jones and Naji Marshall into legitimately good from 3.
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“He has one of the highest upsides in the draft,” Langdon said. “We hired Fred Vinson for a reason, to take chances like this. If his shot hits, he’s going to be a real player.”
Langdon said last week that he plans on going after shooting this offseason, and with the drafting of Holland, it’s clear that the Pistons will do so via trade or free agency. They preferred to use the draft to take a big swing. Detroit still needs high-end talent, and anyone you talk to will suggest that Holland has some of the highest upside in this class. However, upside doesn’t always translate to stardom.
Langdon and the Pistons are banking on their ability to cultivate an environment that produces internal growth. That’s what the most stable, non-major-market organizations have.
The real work begins now in Detroit.
(Photo of Adam Silver and Ron Holland: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
