DaRon Holmes was set to be a vital asset off the bench for the Denver Nuggets in the 2024-25 season. In his first and only Summer League game with the Nuggets last year, he hit all three of his 3-pointers and had seven rebounds in 25 minutes of action before his Achilles gave way and the Nuggets’ world stopped.
DaRon Holmes summer league debut pic.twitter.com/eny2839D6m
— Toumani Camara’s Burner account (@nA10nal_champs) July 15, 2024
Almost a year later, he’s done his due diligence throughout the rehab process and his ready to hit the court running once again. Nuggets Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Ben Tenzer confirmed that the rookie out of Dayton will be back on the court for the organization in the Summer League.
“I think that for him to come back, we want to not rush him back from his injury and we’ll just allow him to take his time, but he’s playing Summer League,” Tenzer said at a press conference Tuesday. “We’re not going to put pressure on him coming back but we expect him to be healthy and ready to go then.
Tenzer says Holmes is going to play summer league and is a PF and C pic.twitter.com/Azg1pied6A
— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) June 24, 2025
There has also been questions on what Holmes’ role will be with Denver, and Tenzer also confirmed that he’s both a power forward and a center, depending on the situation. While his frame is slightly undersized compared to most NBA centers, as he is listed as 6-foot-10 and 225 pounds, he can easily be used to spot a couple minutes at the center position when Jokic is on the bench, similar to what the team has done with Aaron Gordon in the playoffs previously. As seen with his Summer League highlights, he can also space the floor and shoot the deep ball, which is more of what a power forward does in the modern NBA.
Jon Wallace, the newly named Executive Vice President of Player Personnel, also chimed in on what the 22-year-old big man brings to the table for a Denver team that needs a boost off the bench.
“We got the environment that’s going to be able to facilitate his growth, the age of positionless basketball and the type of system that we play, he has actual skill sets with his shooting, with his rim protection, with his mobility to where we’re going to be able to highlight the ways he plays and let him get more comfortable just getting those reps at this point,” Wallace said.
If all goes well for Holmes in Las Vegas, then he should be heavily featured in Denver’s rotation this season, as he is a win-now kind of player that they need to spot minutes off the bench.
