Prospect Scouting Report: Ron Holland II – At The Hive

MEASUREMENTS

Height: 6’6.5″ (without shoes)
Wingspan: 6’10.75″
Standing reach: 8’8″
Weight: 196.8 pounds
Standing vertical: 30″
Max vertical: 38″

Background

Ron Holland II is an 18-year-old wing out of G League Ignite—the last of his kind, as the Ignite program will be shuttered once the draft concludes after a four-year experiment that turned sour once NIL in college sports became a reality. The native of Duncanville, Texas spent four years at his local high school, winning three state championships and earning himself a spot on the 2023 McDonald’s All-American team and Team USA in the Nike Hoop Summit. Originally committed to Texas, Holland eventually decided against playing college basketball and signed with Ignite.

Holland averaged 19.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.4 steals and 0.9 blocks in 31.9 minutes per game, shooting 45.5% FG, 23.7% 3P and 72.8% FT (48% eFG) with Ignite. He suffered a ruptured tendon in his right thumb on January 31 and missed the remainder of the year—Holland finished his pre-draft season with 29 games played.

Note: this scouting report is essentially a decipherable expansion of my notes. Apologies for the brief, choppy sentences at time—it’s easier to crank these out that way.

STRENGTHS

Defensive versatility, high-motor athleticism, downhill finishing

Holland is athletic, energetic and utilizes his elite-level length, explosiveness and functional basketball athleticism on both ends of the floor. Seems like a souped-up hustle wing that’s willing to do the “dirty work” and battle each possession, along with having relatively high upside as a shot creator and finisher thanks in large part to a blend of explosiveness, power and fluidity.

Downhill slashing is a bankable, if not a plus skill at the NBA level from the jump. Solid straight-line handle at this stage of his development (splits defenders easily with long, controlled dribbles, strong gathers that cover tons of ground, and gets to the rim going left or right). Can create space on step-backs, side-steps and pull-backs, which all look smooth when they go in and inspire hope as a shooter off the bounce. Slashing will be fully leveraged if he becomes a respectable 3-point shooter—anything around 34% should force defenses to close out, opening driving lanes.

Finishes inside at a very high clip given the difficulty of his attempts (59% at rim on 271 attempts, 77th percentile for rim frequency as an 18 year old in a pro league), shows verticality, agility, physicality and impressive arm/body contortion, finishes at awkward angles at the rim, body control and Euro-step, step-through and floater gathers are good and pair well with his athleticism. Ability to shift his upper body to avoid contests, maintain momentum through contact while on the ground and in the air, and then still get hang time and a full extension on the finish is extremely impressive, strong indicator of high-level finishing.

Has a lot of touch at the rim to boot, finishes high off the glass, double clutch, tons of wrong-foot, awkward Euro-step finishes that he makes look smooth. Great transition finisher, tends to be a left-foot, right-hand dunker but can definitely get up off both feet, can leap from outside the paint and still finish at or above the rim. Really impressive athlete with the ball in his hands—maintains speed, power, quickness and fluidity with and without the ball.

Doesn’t strike me as an initiator in the long run but has definitive flashes of playmaking vision. Makes quick-decision passes, plenty with one-hand or at tough angles, can flow out of a handoff or screen on the second side and make a read, has some nice drop offs to cutters when driving to the rim, makes good, quick decisions after drawing two defenders—willing passer too, not someone who dominates the ball, which he could’ve given the situation with Ignite. Turnovers come from a lack of ball control and erratic pace of play rather than inability to read the game. That can be smoothed out with age.

High-motor defender, stock producer, athleticism on full display when Holland defends. 88 stocks in 29 games, 2.4 steals per game and a hair under a block per game. Plays with energy and effort, fit well in a fast-paced league, active on the glass for his position that can push the pace off live rebounds, willing to use his body and take contact as a defender, just seems like a passionate basketball player that will find a way to make an impact on both ends as he did in the G League, even if he’s not the most efficient player.

Switchable defensively, matches up with anyone in transition (good shot-blocker on open-court layups whether on-ball or chase-down), provides energy, hustle and aggression on that end, defends the ball with his body even though he still hasn’t peaked in terms of strength yet, has active hands in passing lanes, strong two-hand digs when one pass away on drives and has good footwork and recovery recovery speed. Well-rounded defender, 6-foot-8 in shoes with a 6-foot-11 wingspan, sturdy defender that holds up to physicality despite being 197 pounds at the Combine. No questions about him defensively, could stand to be a bit better rebounder if the shooting never comes around just to ensure he makes an impact. Can likely defend 1-4 once he hits his prime, definitely 2-4.

Improved as a two-way impact player with Ignite as year went on, all the young guys were just in poor context with that roster. Creation, perimeter defense, high motor flashes are enough to cement him as a top prospect and project a reasonably high ceiling but will probably end up as an average starter if he doesn’t shoot at least in the mid-thirties from three.

QUESTION MARKS

Shooting gravity, realization of self-creation upside

At this stage, very inefficient shooter from range overall, and relies a lot on first-step and quickness to create space and knocking down the open, easier looks. Shot mechanics are a bit narrow and upright, and sometimes inconsistent when forced to take a quick shot.

Plays at a frenetic pace in the halfcourt at times—creates advantage and takes it full-speed, or dribbles to nowhere and is forced to pass it out. Needs to develop some more advances ball-handling counters (doesn’t break defenders down consistently) and a reliable jumper to leverage his slashing and force defenses to go over screens, play shallower drop coverage, etc. He looks comfortable shooting when defenders go under screens, but isn’t consistent enough to punish them.

Jump shot and overall scorer’s poise and mentality needs to make a leap to have an All-Star level ceiling. Only 30% from 3-point range in 80 games at AAU/HS level, on top of his 25% mark with Ignite. Positive; essentially an even split on his total jump shot attempts between off the catch and off the dribble. Per Synergy, Holland took 75 jumpers off the catch and 73 off the dribble last season—he was actually more efficient off the bounce at 27.4%, with 46 of them coming from 2-point range and 27 of them from distance. That’s an encouraging shot diet. I’d rather a prospect have the willingness, confidence and ability to take these shots and miss them than be a low-volume, low-usage but efficient scorer, especially at 18 years old.

Still, it’s a large sample size of inefficient shooting from range at this point, but he does have volume—often the strongest indicator of future 3-point shooting success. Mechanics are fine, but the jumper is a bit narrow and his feet are inconsistent—very close together sometimes, relies a lot on touch for makes. Once he figures out how to get his legs under him on every attempt, I think the jumper will come around—makes look pure, drills some tough step-backs from well beyond the NBA line. Already used to the deeper 3-point line, for what it’s worth.

Overall outlook

Good player in this class but not fully convinced he’s truly even worth a top-3 pick—would definitely be outside the top-5 in the average draft, but the ceiling is tough to pass on in this class to me.

Fit with the Charlotte Hornets is tremendous. Slots in at the three as a defensive-minded wing that provides a needed jolt of energy, athleticism and intensity on both ends of the floor. Slashing and rebounding replaces key areas of production from Miles Bridges, allowing the team to avoid handing him a large contract and resetting the development clock at that position to more align with LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Mark Williams. Can be insulated by shooters with Grant Williams, Aleksej Pokusevksi and Davis Bertans in the frontcourt and a host of shooters on the perimeter as he develops a jumper, and if it comes along to any real degree, the Hornets have a young, versatile roster filled with athletes that have positional size. That’s how championship-caliber teams are built in the NBA these days.