NBA Draft: The Defensive Impact of Dayton Center DaRon Holmes II

Taking a look at the defensive upside for potential first round pick DaRon Holmes.

For those unfamiliar, DaRon Holmes II, is a 6-foot-10 sophomore playing for the Dayton Flyers. Holmes is currently filling up box scores averaging just under 20 points per game and just over eight rebounds per game go along with two assists.

Holmes II comes in as the No. 42 overall prospect on the Tankathon big board and has been even higher on others.

The Montverde Academy product can obviously make an impact on the offensive end of the floor, he is 80+ in both point scoring prowess (PSP) and around the rim (ATR) but this potential first round pick also provides plenty of value on defense.

This is where we will keep our focus for this breakdown.

Looking at the numbers first, Holmes averages over half a steal and two blocks per game. He has six games this season, almost one-third of his games played, where he has three or more blocks.

The Cerebro Sports defensive stats impact (DSI) metric speaks just as highly of Phoenix, AZ native.

Holmes is currently grading out with an 86 this season, great, and is even higher (92) when you take the cumulative score of all games, and events, tracked by cerebro throughout his career going back to high school and AAU.

Let’s compare these two numbers to that of the four freshmen big men ranked ahead of Holmes on the Tankathon big board.

*The first number listed is the current season DSI and the second number is the cumulative.

DaRon Holmes II - 86 and 92 (No. 42 prospect)

Victor Wembanyama (Metropolitan 92s) - 97 and 91 (No. 1 prospect)

Kyle Filipowski (Duke) - 80 and 82 (No. 14 prospect)

Dereck Lively II (Duke) - 85 and 97 (No. 17 prospect)

Kel’el Ware (Oregon) - 89 and 94 (No. 18 prospect)

As you can see, there is very little difference in the DSI of Holmes compared to those of four of the top 18 prospects via Tankathon.

The aspect of Holmes’ defense that will immediately stand out on film is his shot blocking. Not only is he doing this when defending on the ball but also as a weak side rim protector. Perhaps the most impressive shot blocking that he displays is on jump shots where he displays his length, anticipation and incredible timing.

Holmes could stand to be more active with his hands in drop coverage and passing lanes but he has flashed an ability to be disruptive with steals and deflections in these play types, as well.

Holmes is able to cause all of this disruption while staying on the court, and out of foul trouble, which is proven by his mere 2.5 fouls per 40 minutes.

While the defensive disruption is the most impressive part of his game, the ability to play multiple ball screen coverages is the most intriguing. Holmes has the athleticism and foot speed to not only hedge on ball screens but also full blown switch which is aided by the aforementioned ability to contest, and block, jump shot attempts.

The biggest area for growth defensively will be adding strength and better holding his ground in the paint. Holmes is a good looking athlete but at 220 lbs. he is too often getting backed down to the rim or giving up space to the offensive player by not being able to fully “wall up”.

There is little doubt about an NBA future for DaRon Holmes II but he is definitely a big man prospect to keep an eye on sneaking into the first round and if he does, it will have a lot to do with his defensive impact.

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