The Nuggets’ 2025 Las Vegas Summer League campaign gets underway on Thursday night, and for the second straight year, the biggest name to watch is DaRon Holmes II. Last year, the Nuggets traded up to select Holmes 22nd overall out of Dayton, but the big man tore his achilles in his first summer league game.
Holmes underwent surgery and missed the entire 2024-25 season, but he’s been with the team, rehabbing hard, and is ready to make his second bid for a debut as he headlines Denver’s summer league roster.
Some thought Holmes may skip the summer league after what happened last season, and it will certainly be scary to see him out there going full speed, but if he’s ready to go, he’s ready to go. He needs the reps, and that first time back in live game action is going to be jittery, no matter the setting or circumstances.
Holmes has major opportunity for Nuggets this season
Denver didn’t have a pick in the 2025 draft, so Holmes will likely be the only rookie on the team. The hope last summer was that Holmes could come in and play right away, and despite the injury and offseason additions, that may still be the case.
Depending on how this Jonas Valanciunas saga plays out, there will almost definitely be a need for minutes in the frontcourt. Holmes can play power forward or center. He has a solid inside/outside game, nice ball skills and passing, and can knock down open threes.
A young, stretchy, athletic big man who can back up Jokic or play alongside him is exactly what the Nuggets are missing, and if Holmes can step in and fill that spot right away, that would be a massive development.
Holmes’s ability to contribute may change Nuggets’ offseason plans
While it’s important not to overreact to summer league, these are big games for Holmes and the Nuggets. If he looks great in this setting and proves that he can handle some minutes off the bench in the NBA right away, then Denver has much less urgency to keep Valanciunas and/or find another big man via free agency or trade.
But if Holmes looks like a typical non-lottery pick rookie coming off a major surgery, then that’s not going to work. It’s not a knock on Holmes in any way, but this team is built to win now. The expectation in Denver is championship or bust for the foreseeable future, and that means having competent backup big men.
The time for long-term developmental projects is past, and frankly, if that’s what Holmes figures to be, the Nuggets may be best suited to trade him to a rebuilding team and search for veteran talent in the frontcourt. So yeah, no pressure.