Nuggets drafting DaRon Holmes II is awful news for Zeke Nnaji

Most everyone is excited about the Nuggets drafting DaRon Holmes II out of Dayton on Wednesday night with the 22nd overall pick. Holmes should be able to step in right away and play behind and alongside both Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic and provide a real spark off the bench.

Holmes has great versatility to bring him game inside and outside on both ends and he has a high motor and strong athleticism. He’s a little undersized for an NBA center, but at this point that seems to be the biggest knock on his game and it’s something he should be able to overcome with his other strengths.

But there’s one person on the Nuggets roster who can’t be thrilled about the pick and that’s Zeke Nnaji. Nnaji was drafted in 2020 and signed an extension at the beginning of last season. He had shown some promise as a small-ball big-man off the bench and the Nuggets extended him, hoping he’d be the third big of the future.

DaRon Holmes II looks like the clear Zeke Nnaji replacement

Nnaji struggled with consistency this past season and struggled to stay on the floor, even when healthy. He never really took a step and unlocked that next part of his game. It got bad enough that Nnaji was nowhere near Michael Malone’s playoff rotation.

By the end of the season, it was painfully clear that the team couldn’t rely on Nnaji going forward and they would have to address their frontcourt depth issues. The writing had been on the wall for a while, but trading up to select Holmes was the nail in the coffin for Nnaji and his future with the Nuggets.

The team made it very clear they were prioritizing finding a backup big man and all indications are that Holmes will immediately slide into that role and largely end any hope of Nnaji carving out a real role.

Unfortunately for the Nuggets, Nnaji’s new extension just kicked in and he’s entering the first year of a four-year deal where he’ll make over $8.88 million this coming season. The Nuggets aren’t in a position to have that contract sitting on their bench all season, so it seems more critical than ever to make a trade.

The Nuggets must look to trade Nnaji

Nnaji, with his salary, now becomes one of the best trade chips the Nuggets have at their disposal. If they are able to retain Kentavious Caldwell-Pope they can’t aggregate salaries in any trade, so the team will have to target players making $8.88 million or below next season. The team could throw in some picks to sweeten an offer and hope to bring back a rotation player. 

If KCP leaves, the Nuggets will get a small bit of flexibility and will be able to aggregate salaries. That means they could add Nnaji’s salary with some other players like Reggie Jackson to build a higher matching salary and bring back a player (or players) making more money.

The team has some options to work with, but it has become evident that Nnaji’s days in Denver are numbered. Everyone was hoping things would work out, but it seems like that ship has sailed. Nobody should cry for Zeke as he got his contract and will be well paid. It just appears that it won’t be by the Nuggets for long.