DaRon Holmes was drafted by the Nuggets with the potential to be the anchor of the non-Nikola Jokic minutes. They even traded up in the 2024 draft, moving up from their own 28th pick in the first round to the 22nd pick. And yet, the Nuggets hardly deployed the former-first-rounder in the 2025-26 season, despite his stellar play in the G-League, and the somewhat steep price they paid to acquire Holmes. He should at least get an audition this year.
The Nuggets thought highly of Holmes, the 6-foot-9 forward from Dayton, on draft night in 2024. A big man with a perimeter game, Holmes was also drafted with the hopes of helping out in the paint and was supposed to be a decent rim protector. Holmes averaged 2.1 blocks over 102 career college games.
The Nuggets traded up six spots and also gave the Phoenix Suns the second-round pick in the 2024 draft, the second-round pick in 2026, and the second-round pick in 2031.
They still thought highly of Holmes before this year, too. They gave Holmes the team option for 2026-27 prior to the start of this season.
Holmes missed 2024-25 due to injury, and debuted 2025-26
But Holmes never got a chance to play for the Nuggets in 2024-25. He suffered an Achilles injury and missed the entire season. However, when 2025-26 rolled around, Holmes was relegated to the G-League for development and mostly garbage-time minutes for the Nuggets. However, he did make six starts for the Nuggets while Jokic was out with an injury.
While he didn't play great in his starts, Holmes did show flashes of versatility and energy. He amassed 6 assists in one game, and he had games of 11 and 9 points in garbage time, showing his range from three.
Holmes should get a shot in the small-ball rotation
The small-ball unit should include an audition for Holmes this year, or the Nuggets should consider packaging him up in some deal.
In the G League, Holmes averaged 20.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game, and he showcased strong defense with 1.2 steals and 0.7 blocks. He might still need some development, but after giving up three second-round picks, one of which would be great to have this year, Holmes should at least get a look early on.
It's not like head coach David Adelman isn't used to experimenting with rotations after this season. And the Nuggets can't get that much worse on defense in the paint, so it's worth at least a shot to see what Holmes could do on the second unit.
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