How and when to watch tonight's Nuggets summer league game

The Denver Nuggets’ first game in the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League couldn’t possibly have gone much worse. They saw their rookie big man DaRon Holmes suffer a torn achilles that will sideline him for the entire 2024-25 season, they saw Julian Strawther shoot just 7-19 from the field (3-10 from three) with just one assist, and they saw hopeful backup point guard Jalen Pickett shoot 2-10 and log a -18 in 30 minutes.

The positive takeaways were few and far between, but alas, it’s just one Summer League game. The Holmes injury is absolutely devastating, but the uninspiring play could be a blip on the radar. Players like Strawther and Pickett know they have a target on their backs and that a lot is expected of them this season.

Surely they went into their first Summer League game putting a little extra pressure on themselves, perhaps trying to do too much and prove their worth. That would be completely reasonable for a pair of young, unproven players who are expected to jump into the rotation this season.

Nuggets back in action Sunday night on NBAtv

The good news is that expectations seem to have bottomed out and the young summer Nuggets have another chance on Sunday to get the ball rolling in the right direction. The team will take the court for game 2 on Sunday night at 7:30 PM MDT live from Las Vegas on NBAtv and ESPN+.

Denver will be taking on the Toronto Raptors who have several promising young players of their own. The Holmes injury seems to have sucked most of the air out of the excitement the Nuggets rolled into Summer League with, so hopefully now the pressure is off and guys like Strawther and Pickett can just go out there and play their games.

Nuggets fans need to see young players step up

Nuggets fans could use some good news and something to cheer about and it would be nice if this team could provide it. A big game for Pickett or hot shooting from Strawther would certainly help. Trey Alexander had an impressive debut and if he can build on that there will be talk of him getting a guaranteed contract.

A real opportunity exists for these players to earn meaningful roles with the Nuggets this season, but they are going to have to step up and prove themselves. The time is now.