LAS VEGAS — DaRon Homes II — the guy the Denver Nuggets traded up to get with the No. 22 pick last June — suffered a torn Achilles Tendon in his first Summer League game and will be out for the coming season.
Holmes went down with four minutes left in the fourth quarter of the Nuggets’ game against the Clippers. He slid to defend in the post, leapt, and injured himself. It didn’t seem this devastating in the moment because Holmes limped off the court himself and first went to the bench. Shams Charania of The Athletic broke the news later that night.
Holmes finished the game with 11 points and seven rebounds, which was a sign that he might be up for frontcourt rotation minutes with the Nuggets this season, which is why Denver drafted the All-American out of Dayton. ‘
Holmes would have gotten some minutes this season and those will now be divided between Dario Saric and Vlatko Cancar, playing behind Nikola Jokic. This also sets back his development by a year, the Nuggets envisioned him taking on larger and larger roles in the coming years.
The Nuggets can apply for a disabled player exception. However, because Holmes is making $3 million on his rookie-scale contract, the Nuggets could only offer $1.5 million with the exception, not an amount that is likely to attract a rotation player.
