Ryan Rollins has one blueprint for NBA survival, and it's sitting right there in Milwaukee's recent history. He only needs to watch how Jrue Holiday morphed over time from a struggling offensive guard into a championship-winning centerpiece.
The blueprint has already been laid out for him: play defense, and everything else will follow. After all, Holiday wasn't always the lockdown defender who helped deliver Milwaukee a title in 2021. It took evolution, too. Like many young point guards, he entered the association as just another score-first point guard trying to prove he belonged.
Ryan Rollins has another role to embrace in Milwaukee's loaded backcourt
When Holiday was drafted by the Sixers, his expected role at the time was to be a primary ball-handler and scorer. While his defense was solid, it wasn't the elite, lockdown, point-of-attack defense he's known for today. That reputation was something that was built over time, but from Day 1, he was more of a combo guard looking to score the basketball.
Rollins has the defensive tenacity that Holiday does, but that means nothing without the mentality shift that Holiday made somewhere around his mid-twenties. He stopped trying to be something he wasn't and started focusing on what made him the best version of himself: a defensive menace who could guard anyone and make winning plays on both ends.
Holiday's transformation into an elite off-ball threat is what really made him special in Milwaukee. He learned when to be aggressive scoring and when to just make the simple play. And for this writer, that's the template Rollins needs to follow with players like Kevin Porter Jr. and Gary Trent Jr. sharing the backcourt spots with him. It's time to stop forcing shots and start forcing turnovers.
Rollins has already shown he's at the very least competitive on that end. According to Cleaning the Glass, opponents shoot -1.2 effective field goal percentage points fewer when Rollins steps on the floor. For someone who's held opposing guards to 83-of-197 (42.1 field goal percentage) in the regular season, that simply can't be a coincidence.
Considering Milwaukee's front office dragged their feet when they took their time to re-sign him, Rollins may be running out of time to prove he belongs on an NBA roster. It's clear the coaching staff isn't ready to hand him the keys just yet. But if he can focus on the other parts of his game and develop his defensive instincts and off-ball intelligence, he's got a real chance to stick around.
The former two-way talent has had quite a few impressive outings, even starting for the Bucks at certain points of the season. But the truth is that his shooting hasn't been consistent enough to justify minutes based on offense alone.
The blueprint worked for Holiday—turning him from a questionable starter into a title winner who got paid millions. Milwaukee knows exactly what that transformation looks like. They just need Rollins to be willing to make the same sacrifices Holiday did.
Defense, off-ball threat, title winner. The formula is right there waiting for him.