Ron Holland II is far from a finished product and if you want to get a look at what he might be in a few years, watch Jaden McDaniels and the Timberwolves.
In a somewhat surprising move, Holland has been yanked out of the playoff rotation and there are no signs that is going to change, which has to be disappointing for the second year man, who was just starting to find his shot and confidence at the end of the season.
But I hope Holland was watching the games last night, as Jaden McDaniels dropped 32 points with 10 rebounds, two steals and a block, and did it while only hitting one from long range.
He carried the Timberwolves to the second round without Anthony Edwards, and in the process, gave the Pistons a glimpse of what Ron Holland could be someday.
Ron Holland could eventually be the guy Jaden McDaniels has become
I had a fan tell me that the Pistons need Holland to become McDaniels and my response was, "give it time." McDaniels is in his 6th season, and like Holland, did not come into the league as a finished product.
He put up similar numbers to Holland (with slightly better shooting splits) in his first two seasons, and it wasn't until year three that he broke through as a shooter and averaged double digits for the first time.
Both players have great size for wings and are tough competitors who get after it on the defensive end, the only real difference is that McDaniels has evolved into a scorer, coming up just shy of the 50/40/90 club this season, which no one saw coming back when McDaniels was Holland's age.
Both guys are durable and play with an edge that sometimes leads to altercations, but both are players any coach would be happy to have on their team because of that effort.
With all of those similarities, it's easy to see how Holland could eventually evolve into this type of player, so what needs to change?
Holland has to be better from the corner
It seems like I say this every day, but if the Pistons could hit a corner three, they'd be almost unbeatable. Seriously, I've never seen a team miss so many open ones, and Holland has been a part of that all season.
Holland hit just 24 percent of his corner threes this season and just 25 percent overall, and that has to change if he is going to be the kind of two-way impact player that McDaniels is.
The good news is that McDaniels offers some precedent, as he only shot 31 percent from 3-point range his second season before jumping all the way up to 40 percent the next.
The difference is that McDaniels had already shown some signs of shooting that Holland still hasn't, so he has a long way to go to be anywhere near 40 percent. But he doesn't have to be, as McDaniels was nearly two years older than Holland was when he entered the league.
We sometimes forget that Holland is 20, and for all of those who want to trade him away this summer, just take a look at McDaniels, who was just the best player in a deciding playoff game.
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