LAS VEGAS — Nuggets rookie DaRon Holmes II tore his right Achilles tendon during the fourth quarter of his first Summer League game Friday night, a league source confirmed to The Denver Post. He is expected to miss the 2024-25 season.
Holmes was seen leaving UNLV’s Cox Pavilion on crutches after Denver’s 88-78 loss to the Clippers, a Summer League debut in which he amassed 11 points and seven rebounds. He made all three of his 3-point attempts.
The Nuggets traded up six spots in the NBA draft to select Holmes 22nd overall this year. He was their top target throughout the pre-draft process, viewed as a potential plug-and-play backup big man who could provide vital frontcourt depth behind three-time MVP Nikola Jokic.
After an awkward landing with about 4:15 remaining, Holmes limped off the court without any help but with barely any weight on his right leg. Trainers tended to him behind the bleachers of the small gymnasium attached to UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center for the remainder of the game.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone, who’s overseeing but not actively coaching the Summer League team this weekend, was called over from his court-side seat before the final buzzer. Teammates approached Holmes to check on him and offer words of comfort after they shook hands with the Clippers and left the court.
“I just told him that — we don’t know, exactly — but I’ll be praying for him,” Hunter Tyson said.
“Obviously he’s new around here, but he just brings such a positive energy,” Julian Strawther said. “So just being able to reciprocate that energy for him (was important).”
Holmes’ parents and agent were also in attendance for what had been an encouraging Nuggets debut before the injury. As Summer League coach Andrew Munson pointed out after the loss, “we really missed his rebounding obviously down the stretch.” The Clippers scored 11 second-chance points in the last 4:07 after Holmes went down.
He had a strong week of minicamp going into the Summer League opener as well, according to team staff. Malone pulled him aside on the first day of practice after sensing Holmes was putting pressure on himself to not make mistakes. “I’ve seen a noticeable improvement because I think he’s relaxed, he’s letting the game come to him, he’s not trying to do too much and just playing his game,” Malone said two days later. “And if he does that, he’s gonna have a chance to have a very great impact this summer.”
At Dayton, Holmes averaged 20.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists last season in his third and final year of college basketball. He was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
“I don’t think all rookies are made the same,” Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth said after the draft. “I think you have the 18- or 19-year-old guys that may or may not have more upside. And then you have some other guys that are accomplished, that do a lot and for all intents and purposes may be more ready for high-pressure NBA games than some guys on NBA rosters, that have been in the league for two or three years. In that sense, I think DaRon is one of those guys. Has a high IQ. Knows how to play in different styles and different scenarios.”
Without the rookie, Denver’s frontcourt behind Jokic loses some of its flexibility. Dario Saric is the only true newcomer to the roster other than Holmes, but the Nuggets are also getting Vlatko Cancar back from a torn ACL. Zeke Nnaji is entering the first season of his four-year, $32 million rookie extension after he was in and out of the rotation last year, mostly as a backup center.
The Nuggets can attempt to create a disabled player exception for Holmes this season, like they did with Cancar in 2023-24, but that would not provide them with an extra roster spot.
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