To no surprise, the Denver Nuggets will keep Julian Strawther and DaRon Holmes II for the 2026-27 season, exercising each player’s team option on their rookie contract for that year, according to a team reporter.
Teams get options on the third and fourth years of first-round rookie contracts if they’re signed to the standard deal. In this case, Strawther is getting his fourth year picked up and Holmes is getting his third year picked up. The Nuggets actually have similar decisions to make with Jalen Picket and Hunter Tyson, with their fourth-year options, but the deadline on that isn’t until next summer since they were second-rounders, whereas the deadline for the two players inked on Wednesday had an end-of-the-month deadline on their deals.
With Christian Braun extended, Peyton Watson, Cameron Johnson and Nikola Jokic not — the Nuggets’ offseason officially ends just about 24 hours ahead of their season beginning. There will be no worrying immediately about contracts, but just a focus on basketball from the jump.
Wednesday’s move by new executives Ben Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace was more or less procedural, as former first-round picks rarely get cut ahead of their fifth year.
Strawther has already proved to be a useful player for the Nuggets and has factored into the rotation for big stretches. He’s been really good in his first two years when he’s caught his rhythm in between injury stints. But the injuries have come at the worst time and have derailed his chances to seriously stay in the team’s rotation down the stretch both of his first two seasons.
The team could badly use the shooting that made him so valuable at Gonzaga, and he won the Nuggets Game 6 against the Thunder. With growth, Strawther could at the very least be an awesome heat check guy if not develop into a solid scoring two guard. Last year, he tallied nine points a game in 65 contests, where he was playing 21 minutes a night.
Holmes is yet to take the floor in the NBA, tearing his Achilles during his first Summer League game after being selected. He’s fully healthy and played in this year’s Summer League and during the preseason. It’s still unknown what the Nuggets have in the tweener big, but it could be special given his mix of skills and athleticism.
At 6-foot-10, the Arizona native left Dayton after his junior season in the A-10, where he averaged a 30th-best in the country 20.4 points with 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.1 blocks per game. He hit a three-a-game on much-improved 39% shooting. This led Holmes’ Flyers to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. They went 71-31 in his three-year college career playing under Anthony Grant.
Strawther will be in the Nuggets rotation this year, Holmes will get his chances, but likely won’t play if everyone is healthy.
