{"id":85779,"date":"2024-07-13T05:53:55","date_gmt":"2024-07-13T09:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=85779"},"modified":"2024-07-13T05:53:55","modified_gmt":"2024-07-13T09:53:55","slug":"nuggets-may-lose-promising-young-daron-holmes-ii-entire-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/13\/nuggets-may-lose-promising-young-daron-holmes-ii-entire-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Nuggets May Lose Promising Young Player For Entire Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On Friday night, Denver Nuggets forward-center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holmeda01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DaRon Holmes II<\/a> suffered an Achilles tear during his Las Vegas Summer League debut, per The Athletic\u2019s Shams Charania. The big man sustained the injury while flying around on defense. A junior prospect out of Dayton, the 21-year-old is now \u201cexpected to miss\u201d the entire 2024-25 season.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Denver Nuggets No. 22 overall pick DaRon Holmes II has suffered a torn right Achilles tendon, sources tell <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheAthletic?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@TheAthletic<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Stadium?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Stadium<\/a>. He\u2019s expected to miss the 2024-25 season. Devastating blow for one of the Nuggets\u2019 promising young pieces. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/05iQQEAZYV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/05iQQEAZYV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/1811987179834683887?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 13, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Playing against the Los Angeles Clippers in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/game\/den-vs-lac-1522400007\/box-score\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the LVSL opener<\/a>, Holmes recorded 11 points, seven rebounds, and one steal while going 3-3 from 3-point range.<\/p>\n<h2>Nuggets May Lose Promising DaRon Holmes II for Entire Season<\/h2>\n<p>The 2024 No. 22 pick, the Nuggets made <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/27\/2024-nba-draft-the-nuggets-trade-up-to-get-their-guy\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a draft night trade<\/a> for Holmes. In exchange for the Arizona native, Denver sent the Phoenix Suns the 2024 No. 28 pick (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dunnry01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan Dunn<\/a>) and three second-round picks in return. Interestingly, Holmes was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/insider\/story\/_\/page\/NBADraft24-40245844\/2024-nba-mock-draft-predictions-all-58-picks-ncaa-early-entry-withdrawal-deadline\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rumored to have received<\/a> a first-round draft promise by ESPN\u2019s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo. That may have come from the Nuggets considering what they gave up to get him.<\/p>\n<p>6-foot-9 and 236 pounds, Holmes started at center for the Nuggets in Summer League. This was perhaps unexpected, as he anchored the Flyers\u2019 defense with his rim-protection, leaving college averaging 2.1 blocks per game. Nonetheless, as he was poised for a role as a backup big, Denver now have a couple of decisions to make.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Da&#039;Ron Holmes tears right achilles tendon\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LOW1Ci0jci4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Though Denver re-signed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jordade01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DeAndre Jordan<\/a>, Holmes&#8217;s body is much fresher than the soon-to-be 36-year-old\u2019s. Once a revered shot-blocker, the veteran center is far past his prime. He was always bound to have a limited impact playing behind 3-time MVP, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jokicni01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikola Jokic<\/a>. However, he only averaged 11.0 minutes per game in 2023-24 because of his physical decline.<\/p>\n<p>This is where Holmes came in. With his athleticism and activity level, he would\u2019ve been able to affect the game in ways that Jordan can\u2019t. He would\u2019ve also been a great complement to Jokic, who has mastered the offensive end but whose interior defense leaves something to be desired.<\/p>\n<h2>What\u2019s Next for the Nuggets?<\/h2>\n<p>Now, the Nuggets must turn back to Jordan, acquire a backup big, or look deeper on their roster for help.<\/p>\n<p>Looking at the free agency landscape, only two of the available centers played regularly last season: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/achiupr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Precious Achiuwa<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/biyombi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bismack Biyombo<\/a>. Of the two, Achiuwa bears the most similarities to Holmes, but he may also be out of their price range. Yet, this is a simpler path than trading for a big man due CBA constraints. With the Nuggets <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/01\/nikola-jokic-wants-a-former-mvp-to-join-him-in-denver-russell-westbrook\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">trying to complete a trade<\/a> for Clippers star guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/westbru01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Russell Westbrook<\/a>, it\u2019s even less practical.<\/p>\n<p>That being said, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nnajize01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zeke Nnaji<\/a> could be getting one more shot at a rotation spot. Upon being drafted, he had few of the same skills as Holmes. Nnaji, at 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds, is an athletic defender with shooting upside. However, his rebounding and defensive awareness have been behind the curve, so he\u2019s averaged just 12.5 minutes per game in his career.<\/p>\n<p>If Nnaji can play smarter and stronger, he could earn a rotation spot. If not, it\u2019ll likely go to Jordan. That\u2019s if the Nuggets don\u2019t sign a mobile rim-protector and rebounder like Biyombo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Friday night, Denver Nuggets forward-center DaRon Holmes II suffered an Achilles tear during his Las Vegas Summer League debut, per The Athletic\u2019s Shams Charania. The big man sustained the injury while flying around on defense. A junior prospect out of Dayton, the 21-year-old is now \u201cexpected to miss\u201d the entire 2024-25 season. Denver Nuggets [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":85780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,1608,27,62,556,3],"tags":[4807,228,98,297,4745,2834],"class_list":["post-85779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nuggets","category-basketball","category-clippers","category-nba","category-nba-draft","category-news","tag-daron-holmes-ii","tag-deandre-jordan","tag-nba-draft","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-nba-injuries","tag-zeke-nnaji"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}