Richaun Holmes is an important part of the 76ers’ future

The Philadelphia 76ers look to have two bonafide stars in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons — provided they stay healthy — but filling out the rest of the team with players who fit will be the difference between early playoff exits and deep runs into May and June. Richaun Holmes, who got the Hinkie Special contract when he first arrived in the NBA and will get paid at the end of his four years on the minimum, is one of these players. Robert Covington just converted his play into a $60 million extension, and while the 76ers won’t be in a position to extend Holmes in the same way, he’ll sign a significant contract when his time comes in 2019.

Holmes’ offense has never been a problem. He’s the low-usage, high-efficiency big man Philadelphia needs who hits a high percentage at the rim and can shoot the occasional corner 3-pointer. He plays with boundless energy, puts the ball in the basket when it gets to him and rarely turns it over. Defense, on the other hand, has always been what held Holmes back from avoiding frequent trips to Brett Brown’s doghouse. His play has improved on that end this year, but the game-to-game consistency still isn’t quite there to make him a solid starting big man.

Against the Timberwolves on Tuesday, the 76ers got the good version of Holmes on that end. He mostly defended Taj Gibson or Gorgui Dieng but was pressed into service against Karl-Anthony Towns when Embiid was in foul trouble late in the fourth quarter and overtime, and he did an admirable job. His effort on the defensive glass in particular was noteworthy, as well as his ability to contain the Timberwolves’ guards and wings after switches in the pick-and-roll.

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The 76ers don’t need Holmes to be a high-level rim protector and he won’t be the primary defender on the majority of pick-and-rolls because Embiid plays that role. Rather, his place is to defend within the team concept, rotating when needed, guarding multiple positions when the defense gets scrambled and boxing out to secure the ball after a miss by the offense. All three were on display in the below clip, in which he contains Jimmy Butler in pick-and-roll, recovers back to his man under the basket and fights hard to get a rebound that was going over his head otherwise.

That combination of size, leaping ability and lateral quickness makes Holmes a tantalizing defensive prospect. He had multiple plays in this game in which he showed off that athleticism to stymie the Timberwolves’ attack, plays that are becoming more consistent as he continues to grow within Philadelphia’s system.

Early in his career, Holmes was a bit of a sieve on the defensive glass, but that’s changed considerably this year — opponents are rebounding 4.0 percent fewer of their own misses in the half court when Holmes is on the floor compared to when he’s on the bench, according to Cleaning the Glass. He’s begun to master the art of boxing out on every possession, often before the shot even goes up.

Against Minnesota, his concentration lapsed just once in his 33 minutes on the floor, when Towns slipped past him to get an offensive rebound:

It didn’t hurt the 76ers because Towns missed the put back, but that’s the sort of play they can’t afford from Holmes. Those instances are far more rare this year than they’ve been in the past and this was the only example from Tuesday’s game, but for a player with as minimal a role as Holmes has, these mistakes are the difference between playing significant minutes and being nailed to the end of the bench.

Outside of his improved rebounding and team’s strong rebounding when he’s on the floor, Holmes’ ability to stick to quicker players on the perimeter has also developed nicely in the last few years. Watch how he gets back into the play and forces Jeff Teague to pull the ball out on a drive:

After contesting and leaking out in transition, Holmes had to sprint back to cover Teague’s drive, but even though he was out of position initially, he had no trouble sticking to the point guard and forcing him away from the rim. Holmes switched on Teague and Butler multiple times throughout this game and did a fantastic job either contesting their jumpers or deterring a shot attempt altogether.

In each of the above clips, Holmes shows off his ability to defend past his initial assignment, a key trait on that end of the floor for any big man who isn’t his team’s dominant inside presence. This is even more important with the 76ers, as they often play lineups with a multitude of big men (depending on how you classify Simmons, who essentially breaks all positional designations with his specific skill set). The team can play four big men on offense because of Simmons’ ability to function as the primary creator at 6-foot-10, but that forces them to be very versatile defensively since Brown will often close games with one guard and four bigs on the floor, as he did against the Timberwolves. Holmes fits this philosophy perfectly.

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Consistency will be the key for Holmes, who has found himself in and out of the rotation throughout his career and has played fewer than 200 minutes this season. He was sidelined with a wrist injury in the early part of the year but was firmly behind Amir Johnson in the rotation upon his return, catching multiple DNP-CDs in the past month. Tuesday’s game may well be the turning point for the young big man, in which he played a season-high in minutes and notched his first double-double of the year.

Holmes doesn’t have a marquee role with this Philadelphia team, but that doesn’t mean he’s not an important part of their present and future success.