Grade the draft: Latest ESPN mock has Nuggets landing Jokic backup

Mock draft season is in full swing as we’re officially in June and 28 of the 30 NBA teams are fully immersed in the offseason. The Nuggets’ offseason started a little sooner than expected, but the extra time has given them a chance to more closely and diligently analyze the roster, find ways to improve, and lock in on team needs.

One of those needs that became fairly glaring as the season went on is a need that has been a familiar issue for several years; lack of big man depth behind Nikola Jokic. Denver tried to sneak by with DeAndre Jordan and Zeke Nnaji this season, but Jordan was clearly washed and Nnaji was not ready for primetime. Neither player was able to crack the postseason rotation and the Nuggets were left undermanned and undersized.

Nuggets have a glaring need for backup big

Unfortunately, the Nuggets are faced with a very tight budget and most of their finances will likely go towards retaining Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency. But one clear avenue to adding a legitimate backup big man on the cheap is to use their first-round draft pick (28th overall) to attack that position.

On Friday, Jonathan Givony, ESPN’s draft expert released his latest fully updated 2024 NBA mock draft and he has the Nuggets using the 28th pick to take DaRon Holmes, a 21-year-old big man out of Dayton.

ESPN mocks DaRon Holmes to the Denver Nuggets

Holmes, in theory, would be an ideal fit for the Nuggets; he played multiple years in college and has experience that should make him ready to contribute immediately. He has size and chops as a conventional big man on both ends, but he also has good ball skills for his size and can play on the perimeter where he made almost 40% of his three-pointers this season.

It was also recently reported that Holmes canceled his remaining predraft workouts as he’s received a draft promise from a team, likely in the late first round. The landing spot makes a ton of sense and there’s a legitimate chance that Holmes has received a promise from the Nuggets. That doesn’t guarantee that Holmes will last that far in the draft, and there’s no guarantee the Nuggets are even that team. But it would seem like an excellent fit for both sides.

Grade: A-