Once an obsession of Denver\u2019s front office, DaRon Holmes II is currently a reserve with no real NBA minutes in sight.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s been one of the last Nuggets off the bench<\/a> throughout this preseason, a third-unit big man still stuck in post-Achilles limbo<\/a> entering his third season. When Marvin Bagley III was inactive against Chicago last Sunday, an opening appeared at backup center<\/a>, but coach David Adelman went with Zeke Nnaji over the 24-year-old Holmes.<\/p>\n Somebody has to be at the bottom of the pecking order on every NBA roster, of course. And Nuggets coaches and teammates have always maintained that Holmes brings a selfless and positive attitude to work.<\/p>\n But for him, of all people, to be buried on Denver\u2019s depth chart certainly stings a little extra for the franchise and its fans. Holmes remains the Nuggets\u2019 most recent first-round draft pick \u2014 and not only that. Former general manager Calvin Booth famously traded three future second-round picks to move up from No. 28 to No. 22 for Holmes, believing the rival Timberwolves would select him one spot before Denver\u2019s original pick. The resources invested in acquiring him have always made his career feel higher-stakes, through no fault of his own.<\/p>\n Two years in, he hasn\u2019t had a chance to pan out, largely because of the torn Achilles he suffered in his first Summer League game. But now that he\u2019s been back on the court for a year, the stagnation of his role this preseason has been even more discouraging.<\/p>\n Adelman believes the path to playing time remains at center.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all see DaRon, his effort level,\u201d the second-year coach said. \u201cHe\u2019s in amazing shape. Shoots the hell out of the ball. For me, it\u2019s more about what\u2019s the best chance for him, and right now, I think that\u2019s the five.\u201d<\/p>\n Unless he can prove himself to be more versatile. Last season, Adelman briefly resorted to Holmes out of necessity when Nikola Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas got hurt in consecutive games. The Dayton alum started six contests. Denver lost his minutes by a combined 24 points in those games, though he flashed some potential as a pick-and-pop shooter.<\/p>\n The Nuggets need him to be able to do more than that. They need him to roll hard and put pressure on the paint, to improve his feel as a spacer along the baseline and to defend out to the perimeter more effectively.<\/p>\n \u201cI started DaRon because of the traditional five coverage with starters, as opposed to backups who usually switch everything,\u201d Adelman said earlier this week. \u201cI think that\u2019s the thing for DaRon. If he\u2019s gonna play some four, which gives me options with him, he\u2019s gonna have to be able to guard the four. And the fours nowadays, I mean, look at the kid from North Carolina (Chicago\u2019s Caleb Wilson). That\u2019s a freakish four. So there are some guys in our league that are sometimes built for DaRon to guard, and sometimes it would be unfair for me to make him go out there and guard a guy in space that could lead to some failure.\u201d<\/p>\n Wilson tested even Aaron Gordon, a highly skilled defensive power forward, last Sunday. The Bulls rookie was aggressive and athletic, amassing 17 points and five rebounds.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just being up to touch, being physical, making sure that the guy doesn\u2019t have a lot of open space,\u201d Holmes said. \u201cBecause if you can do that, it\u2019s harder for him to get freedom of movement. So I like to watch a lot of film on our guys. AG does a very good job of it. So for someone like me that\u2019s probably a little bit oversized for a four, just being able to touch (the offensive player) and get up there is very helpful. I know on offense I can stretch the floor. I can shoot 3s and rebound very well. So defensively, that is very important. I feel like I\u2019ve done a better job of that over the summer, but I\u2019ve gotta continue to gain Coach\u2019s trust.\u201d<\/p>\n In the meantime, he\u2019s been trying to regain more trust of his own body. That should at least make him more versatile as a pure five, if he has a longer road to becoming a viable power forward option.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year, I was just popping, mainly because I didn\u2019t fully trust my Achilles,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I wasn\u2019t comfortable jumping as much. But now I feel more comfortable getting up, jumping a little bit more. So I feel like I can roll again, like I was in college.\u201d<\/p>\n Holmes was impressive last season for Denver\u2019s G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold. But time is already ticking on his shot at a long NBA career. According to Spotrac contract data,<\/a> the Nuggets have until the end of October to pick up or decline a $5.5 million team option on Holmes\u2019 fourth year, which would be the last of his rookie-scale deal.<\/p>\n His injury cruelly stole precious time from him. Now, there doesn\u2019t seem to be enough of it to go around in Denver\u2019s rotation.<\/p>\n It makes this week in Los Angeles an important one. Holmes compiled 11 points and five rebounds in the second half against Chicago. Two exhibitions remain for him to make an impact before the season tips off and he settles into a bench role.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the time for us to showcase what we\u2019ve been working on this summer,\u201d Holmes said. \u201cTo show that we\u2019re about the team, we\u2019re about winning, about playing the right way and to show how much better we\u2019ve gotten over the course of the year. I know for me, I\u2019m already feeling a lot more comfortable from where I was last year to now. Feel like I\u2019ve gotten a lot stronger. Feel like I\u2019m understanding the game a lot better.\u201d<\/p>\n