Richaun Holmes - all he contributes is a contract for trading

[mvossman]

Maybe "not effective" isn't the best term.  Average might be more appropriate. 

Here's Richaun Holmes defensive plus/minus from 538 for his peak performance years:

2018:   -0.2
2019:   + 0.2
2020:   + 0.1
2021:   + 0.2

That seems pretty average.  

Here's Dwight Powell from the past few years:

2021:   + 0.8
2022:   + 0.7
2023:   + 0.6

So, a little better than average.  

I think Dwight is a better defensive player than Richaun Holmes although Holmes is a better rebounder.

I don't have anything against Richaun Holmes and I hope he overcomes his eye injury and the personal turmoil of his last few years.  It would be a great if he could become our starter and upgrade our roster.  My real problem is just Mark Cuban polishing another terd and trying to sell it as progress.  For whatever his personal faults, Christian Wood was a much better on-court player last season than Richaun Holmes.  Pointing to Richaun Holmes as the solution to our center problem is disappointing.

I'm looking at stuff like EPM and DPM, which have both as plus defenders.  Holmes is a better rebounder and rim protector, but Powell is probably better P&R defender.  I think their on court defensive impact is roughly the same, but what Powell brings is more subtle, which is why folks are complaining about him more than they probably should.

If all we did at the center position was bring in Holmes, then "polishing a turd" would be a more accurate statement, but we just spent a lottery pick on a center and Holmes is just a stopgap.  

Wood was definitely not a better defensive center, and it seems clear that he had a negative impact in the locker room as well.