Not long ago, the NCAA's NIL policy was officially implemented, allowing many college players to be "just full", which not only directly impacted the draft market (allowing more young people who are not doing well to choose to return to college to continue fighting), but also made the product of the special era of the Development League Ignite Team have to be temporarily put to an end and end its historical mission. At the beginning, the meaning of igniting existence was to use high salaries to attract young people from poor families or who could not enter college because of their grades, and provide them with a platform to enter the NBA, but now that colleges can make more money, they have no meaning to exist. Last season, the Ignite announced that they would quit after playing this season, and the players who participated in this year's draft and were selected became the "Last Ignite". They were Ron Holland, Matas Buzelis, and Tyler Smith, and the trio were drafted by the Pistons, Bulls, and Bucks with the fifth, eleventh, and thirty-third picks, respectively.
In the past period of time, although the sign of "Ignite" is indeed loud, but more often than not, it is more stigmatized - because most of the rookies born in Ignite have not been able to gain a foothold in the NBA, or it took a long time to barely meet people's initial expectations of them, so this team has also been branded as a "fraudster". First of all, there is no doubt about talent, but in the Ignited game, it is more like creating a platform for these young lads to show their talents, rather than teaching them how to implement strict tactical discipline and cultivate better tactical understanding, so in the end, we see that Ignite's record is unremarkable, and it is difficult for Ignited young people to enter the NBA. And how should these three rookies who have just entered the NBA justify themselves and their old clubs?
Let's start with Taylor Smith, who was selected at the end. He had the prospect of being picked out by the team in the first round, but he was finally selected by the Bucks on the second day of the draft. Smith has the size and size of the No. 4 position, has excellent athleticism, will not be at a disadvantage against opponents, blocking offense is his forte, and even more commendable is his ability to shoot three-point shots. And the reason why the Bucks chose him is undoubtedly to see and develop him as a second Portis, and the positions and skills of the two are too similar. But Smith is still a blank, and he needs to transfer his three-point ability to the NBA, and start with the basics on the defensive end, starting from the team's bench, and doing his job little by little.
Buzelis, who was selected with the 11th pick, can be said to be a leak for the Bulls - because even from the last issue of the draft before the prediction of major authoritative media, Buzelis is in the top five, but the current president of the Bulls is Lithuanian, and Buzelis is a Lithuanian-American who grew up in Chicago, which can be said to be fate. Bouzelis has shown his versatility in the past games, he can do almost anything on the field, but he doesn't finish it well, mainly because he is too skinny and makes things that seem natural to others so difficult on his side. And in the Bulls, he can't take on the responsibility of the main attacker, after all, LaVine, Vucevic and even DeRozan, who may stay on the team, will have a higher weight on the offensive end than him, so you might as well start with defense, show his excellent ability to help defend and protect the frame, and "make a lot of money in the later stage" - I mean, gain weight.
Holland and the Pistons' name are linked, not to mention us fans, even Holland himself said that he never thought of such a play. The Pistons could have picked a better player or a player closer to their fifth pick, but ended up picking Holland, who only had the lottery end market. As one of the youngest players in the draft, Holland is a player who can play at the No. 3 and No. 4 positions and can defend from the No. 2 to the No. 5 position, and defense has always been his housekeeping skill, averaging 2.5 steals per game on the Ignite team, but on the contrary, his shooting is a headache. What the Pistons lack most now is offensive space, if Holland can improve in shooting under the guidance of shooting coach Vinson in the new season, combined with his own excellent defense, maybe he can bloom his own flower in the Pistons, a team that is still in the quagmire.