Bad news for Denver Nuggets fans as the club’s 1st round pick from this year’s NBA Draft, DaRon Holmes II, suffered a torn Achilles tendon in his summer league debut.
Holmes, who was selected 22nd overall last month, suffered the injury in Friday night’s 88-78 loss to the LA Clippers in the club’s summer league opener. The 21 year old recorded 11 points and 7 rebounds in 26 minutes of action before getting hurt.
The 6’10” Dayton alum is likely to miss the entirety of the 2024-25 season, which is a crushing blow to the Nuggets roster. Denver’s front office spent 3 second round picks to move up to select Holmes, and were hopeful to use him in a meaningful backup role this season.
After being forced out of the game, and leaving the arena on crutches, many feared that it could be a multi-month injury. However, after additional testing confirmed a torn Achilles, the Nuggets will now need to alter their plans for the upcoming season.
Holmes started all 33 games for Dayton as a junior last season, averaging 20.4pts/8.5reb/2.6ast per game. With him out for the year, Denver will likely need to broker a deal, scour the remains of the free agent market, or once again turn to Make Nnaji.
Nnaji, originally drafted in the 1st round by Denver back in 2020, was whom the club hoped could serve as a rotational power forward/back-up centre. However his development hasn’t gone according to plan thus far, culminating in a 3.2pts/2.2reb/0.6ast stat line from 2023-24.
Given Denver’s championship aspirations, and need for front court depth behind perennial MVP candidate Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Nuggets sign a free agent PF/C to a 1 year deal in the coming days.
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