I actually like Ron Holland as a player and it's not his fault that the Detroit Pistons took him with the No. 5 pick. I believe he'll develop into a useful NBA player in some respects, with potential for significant upside. But, man, one other wing player who can't shoot is just the last item this Pistons team needs unless they plan on eliminating a few of their other recently drafted young players.

In an NBA more focused on shooting than ever, the Pistons have chosen non-shooters as vital parts of their core in three consecutive drafts. In 2022, they took Jalen Duren. He's a middle, so it's more manageable, however the NBA relies on five-outs on offense greater than ever. In 2023, they took Ausar Thompson, who’s considered one of the most important projects as a shooter among the many top 10 picks that I can remember. And this 12 months, it's Holland, who shot lower than 25 percent from the three-point line. Even Jaden Ivey, who they chose No. 5 in 2022, isn't really a player who gets aggressively off the ball like a shooter. The same goes for Isaiah Stewart, although he improved in his first few years as a shooter.

The team is just going to have absolutely no room to play. And when you don't necessarily must play all of those guys at the identical time, you're probably going to play not less than two or three of them together with Cade Cunningham. That's the fact of taking guys out of the highest five if you've been a foul team. You hope that those guys can develop together right into a cohesive unit that eventually turns your organization around.

More than anything, I believe such a alternative will only make Cunningham's life drastically harder. Cunningham, a master of blocking and a dynamic mid-range pull-up scorer, generally has trouble finding space within the midrange to make plays, either for himself or his teammates. Holland won't help there.

The Pistons would likely counter with two points. First, latest basketball president Trajan Langdon just brought in renowned shooting coach Fred Vinson from New Orleans. Vinson is taken into account top-of-the-line shooting coaches within the league, but he's no miracle employee. Holland and Thompson are multi-year shooting coaches, although each are considered to have a robust work ethic. It's going to take numerous time to even get them to the purpose where they're making spot-up shots at a high enough level that defenders even care about defending them. Second, they'd point to free agents and the flexibility to sign players through trades to get more shooting. Ultimately, these players they picked up within the lottery are all guys who’ve serious expectations a technique or one other and can likely need playing time. A free agent or trade-acquired shooter can only be of limited help unless they're stars entering the fray here.

Again, I like Holland as a player. I just don't understand how he matches. I might have traded down, and I believe my price threshold for trading and acquiring assets would have been lower than Langdon.

Here are my remaining winners and losers from the primary night of the NBA Draft.