Former GM and current writer John Hollinger thinks Ron Holland’s career is already at a crossroads for the Pistons, which is a bizarre and wholly incorrect take.
Hollinger wrote recently (subscription) about the 2024 draft class, and how players like Holland were on a “knife’s edge” in their careers, which made me wonder if he has ever actually watched the Pistons.
His overall point is that teams are no longer just handing out minutes to young players based on where they were drafted, using guys like Holland and Reed Sheppard as examples.
Hollinger did acknowledge that these two players happened to have landed on good teams with aspirations that don’t allow for huge minutes for teenagers but then says, “With the tide of free “developmental” minutes quickly receding for this 2024 class, it’s now time to deliver. In a dog-eat-dog league, Risacher, Holland and their classmates must either earn their minutes and roles or cede them to better players.”
This is a strange take that has some obvious flaws.
The Pistons don’t have better players, which is why Ron Holland plays
The Pistons have the best record in the league, so they don’t have time for “developmental minutes,” just ask Jaden Ivey, who got shipped out because he wasn’t good enough to stay in the rotation.
Holland plays because he has earned his minutes, unlike so many other 20-year-olds who land on bad teams who can afford to just give them 35 minutes to make mistakes and take their lumps.
Hollinger used Alex Sarr as one of the examples of the only “starting caliber” players out of the 2024 draft. Huh? Do you think Alex Sarr would start on the Pistons? No chance. But I can guarantee Ron Holland would be playing more for the stinking Wizards. Would that make Holland a better player than he is now?
Holland is 20 and getting impact rotation minutes on the best team in the league. What more do you want? Sorry that a 20-year-old isn’t a starter on a team that might win 60 games this year, but that doesn’t change the trajectory of who he is because he’s not putting up garbage numbers on a bad team.
Can we have a tad bit of patience?
I like Hollinger’s work usually, but this is the type of take you usually see from perpetually online teenage fans who have a player as their avatar, not a guy who does actually know the game.
Can we give these kids just a tad bit of patience? Just a little? This is Holland’s second year in the league. He’s 20, and his career is on a “knife’s edge?” What are we even doing here?
Two years ago, half the league had declared Cade Cunningham a bust. How’d that work out?
I wouldn't expect this type of “I NEED INSTANT GRATIFICATION TO PROVE MY TAKE!” position from someone who has been around the league as long as Hollinger.
I’m glad the NBA is in a place where rookies can’t easily walk into the starting five of elite teams and certainly don’t think it means they are about to be traded or that their careers are teetering on the brink.
Come see me when Holland is only enough to buy a beer legally, but for now he is a key role player on a great team, one of the best perimeter disruptors in the league and has earned every minute.