The Denver Nuggets tipped off Summer League on Thursday, losing 90-89 on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by the Milwaukee Bucks in a back-and-forth game where the blue and gold blew a late eight-point lead.
The highlight for the pickaxes was the return of 2024 first-round pick DaRon Holmes II, who tore his Achilles in last year’s Summer League debut. He, alongside third-year forward Hunter Tyson, were the most notable players for Denver as they surged in the second half before falling.
Holmes led the Nuggets with 15 points. He played the power forward spot and grew in confidence in his body and game as the contest progressed. Holmes knocked down three triples, had a nasty blocked shot and collected four rebounds. He flashed the great touch and moments of ball skills that got him drafted. Twice he attacked from the perimeter for finishes at the cup. Holmes looked, maybe a bit slower at times than his college days at Dayton, but he also looked a bit more built out than when we saw him last.
Meanwhile, Tyson played with a ton of gusto but wasn’t very good. He missed 10 of his 14 shots, scoring an inefficient 12 points. Though his activity got the Nuggets 11 rebounds.
Denver was up early thanks to a hot start from Tyson, but the Bucks fought back to take the lead going into the second quarter. Then they rode a 12-0 run to go up double-digits. But Denver made them look back, starting the third quarter on an 11-1 run to take the lead. The Nuggets went up by eight late in the contest, but the Bucks surged back to tie it again with 32 seconds left.
Tyson went for the win, taking an awkward shot for the lead, which he missed. Holmes collected the offensive rebound and missed, too, but EJ Liddell tip-jammed it home for a lead with five seconds left.
This clean up 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/ps3KfQSD2s
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) July 11, 2025
Unfortunately for Liddell, his good night came to a sore end at the horn, when Bucks two-wayer Jamaree Bouyea hit a buzzer-beater for the win right over his outstretched body as he jumped at the early pump fake.
BOUYEA. BOOYAH.
JAMAREE CALLED GAME! pic.twitter.com/lw80zpSHBz
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) July 11, 2025
Bouyea scored 13 for the Bucks while Cormac Ryan and Chris Livingston tied for a game-high of 18 points.
But Liddell has a lot to play for. The No. 41 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft tore his ACL in his first summer league and has bounced around the NBA, including being thrown into the DeJounte Murray blockbuster trade. Now 24, the prep star from outside of St. Louis is looking to build off a strong career at Ohio State, where he once was a two-time All-Big Ten performer. He can do just that for himself in Vegas and for the Nuggets, too.
The Nuggets have two players (Holmes and Tyson) on their NBA roster taking part in the event in Las Vegas, as well as two two-way players (Spencer Jones and Tamar Bates) performing. The rest of the players representing the Nuggets have a ton of motivation with the team boasting both an open roster spot and an open two-way slot. Denver is likely to use that open roster spot on a veteran free agent, but there’s still that two-way slot that could have a big impact on the main group if utilized correctly.
Liddell could be that guy, a 6-7 scoring forward off the bench. He had a game-high 11 rebounds, seven of which — including that pivotal putback — were on the offensive end. He tallied 12 points in total.
Though that final two-way spot is probably smarter used on a center, given the rest of the team’s roster and forward depth. A center in that role would provide a true big man as a third-stringer behind Nikola Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas for up to 50 games. That guy could be seven-footer Tyrell Harrison.
The Tall Black, who is actually from Australia, split last season between the Australian and Puerto Rican leagues. The 26-year-old had a breakout year for Brisbane, averaging 14 points and 10 rebounds a night on 65% shooting in 26 minutes a game over 20 contests. He built off that strong showing when he switched to the Caribbean to finish his season for Mayaguez, averaging 19 points and 10 rebounds per game over 25 contests, where he was getting 25 minutes of action a night.
In Harrison’s Nuggets debut, he was hyperactive in getting 13 points and eight rebounds on eight shots over 24 minutes as the starting center, where he was a team-best plus-14. Harrison is likely known to one of Denver’s newest coaching hires, J.J. Berra, who spent last year coaching a rival team in his native Puerto Rico.
Berra was among the Nuggets contingent in Vegas, sitting courtside with co-executives Jonathan Wallace and Ben Tenzer, head coach David Adelman and players Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther. Also, there was last year’s Grand Rapids Gold coach and former Nugget, Andre Miller.
Miller coached Jones last year, who you may remember flashed for the shorthanded Nuggets in a contest at Golden State. Jones struggled on Thursday, missing all three of his shots and was quiet for much of the game aside from a moment where he led Andrew Munson’s zone look.
Bates, who just came out of college at Missouri, was much better. He collected three steals and scored eight points, showcasing a very high motor as well as some solid shooting and savvy plays.
Among the others fighting for that final spot is Reece Beekman, who had a few strong finishes and started a point guard. His experience as a big-time player at Virginia and a few years in the NBA clearly gave him some confidence in this contest, where he dished out six helpers and stole the ball twice. The other player worth watching is Iowa State’s Curtis Jones, who hoisted six threes and scored eight — all in the third quarter. Denver’s new front office has kept shooting as its biggest offseason target so far.
The Summer Nuggets will play their second game against Minnesota on Saturday night in Vegas.
