The Detroit Pistons have had quite a bit of roster turnover among their role players this offseason, and that alone should present an opportunity for Ron Holland II to secure his role early on
Last season, the Detroit Pistons were one of the best teams in the NBA in terms of keeping their intensity and pressure high for a full 48 minutes, and their season-long top five defensive rating reflected that. Naturally, the Pistons used Ausar Thompson to dissemble opposing offenses and he was an extensive source of stocks that sparked transition offense, but the team kept up a similar approach from start to finish thanks to their depth on the wing.
Behind AT, the Pistons were fortunate to have Ron Holland II learning from the league’s top on-ball defender, and he followed a similar stylistic usage pattern over his first two years in the NBA. Holland has the size, strength and defensive playmaking instinct necessary to guard one through four without much difficulty, but the former top five pick still has room to grow on the other end of the floor.
In particular, Holland is not the most efficient shooter with a 25.3% mark from three-point range and 43.2% from the field overall, so shot selection should be a point of emphasis for the 6-8 forward for the coming season. Holland has shown certain offensive limitations to his game, and that’s the explanation behind the string of DNPs that he picked up during the postseason, but Detroit has shown that it’s possible to smoothly integrate a defensive-dominant wing while playing winning basketball.
With so many new players joining the mix this season, Holland will have a fresh opportunity to compete against the Pistons’ role players for minutes, which means going up against Taurean Prince, Kevin Huerter, Javonte Green and potentially Isaiah Joe and Gary Harris as off-ball non-centers who could factor in on Detroit’s second unit. Holland’s strengths are quite pronounced at this point in his career, and it’s no secret that he’s a tenacious defender at the point of attack, the only real question mark is whether he’s taken the shooting strides necessary to stay on the court during crunch time, in the playoffs and during high-leverage moments.
Holland is a very competitive player, and he wants to be on the court when the Pistons are playing their most influential basketball. For that reason alone, Holland is in the middle of a pivotal offseason where he can work his way into a large role during the 2026-27 campaign with a strong training camp if he can showcase a more reliable perimeter shot, one that he can hit from the corner. Holland had a tendency to camp out in the corner during half-court possessions for Detroit last season and Isaiah Joe can hit corner triples as well as any player in the NBA, so Holland needs to show that he can be counted on in that scenario with added competition for that specific job.
Defensively, Holland is an asset to have on the floor, but his offensive skill set needs to take another leap so that he doesn’t become a one-dimensional wing in a modern league that requires balance and two-way contributions.
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