DaRon Holmes has only played in two preseason games, but the early picture in Denver isn’t exactly flattering.
The Nuggets have split their first two exhibition matchups with the Utah Jazz, and there’s plenty to like in the way the roster has opened up. Everyone has looked healthy and competitive aside from a minor hamstring injury to Spencer Jones, and the team appears to be heading toward a better season than the one it just finished in 2025-26.
Still, one of the clearest takeaways from those first two games is that Holmes, Denver’s 2024 first-round pick, may already be slipping into the background.
That was on display in the Nuggets’ second game against Utah, when the frontcourt minutes went elsewhere. Marvin Bagley logged 14 minutes, Trevon Brazile played 16, and Zeke Nnaji got eight. Spencer Jones was out again with a hamstring strain, but even with that opening, Holmes only saw eight minutes himself, tied for the fewest on the team.
It’s a small sample, and preseason lineups can shift quickly. But it also raises a real concern for Holmes’ place in the rotation. He entered the season as a player with a lot riding on the year, expecting some of his best chances since returning from the Achilles injury that cost him most of last season.
Right now, though, he doesn’t look to be part of Denver’s rotation plan, at least not when the season opens.
If the Nuggets had to set their rotation today, Bagley would be the backup center, Spencer Jones would handle backup four duties, and Holmes would likely be stuck in the mix with Brazile and Nnaji as a reserve option on most nights.
That matters because Holmes was a first-round pick only two summers ago, and Denver will soon have to decide what that means for his future. The team’s fourth-year option on Holmes is on the table later this summer, worth $5.5 million if the Nuggets pick it up. If they decline, he would be headed elsewhere.
Given how tight Denver is on money and cap flexibility, a player who is sitting outside the nightly rotation becomes a much easier candidate to let go. If Holmes keeps trending this way, the Nuggets could decide that moving on is the cleaner financial play.
For Holmes, the next few months could shape more than just his standing in Denver. Another season with limited production and little rotation traction could be enough to push the Nuggets toward cutting ties altogether.
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Nuggets Bench Wings Are Making Denvers Rotation Battle Harder To Ignore
The Nuggets second preseason win over Utah offered another look at a bench group that is starting to make the back end of the rotation feel a little less settled. Denver beat the Jazz 117-106, and the wing depth was a major part of why the game had a different feel than a typical exhibition tune-up. Alpha Diallo brought energy on both ends, Cam Whitmore flashed the kind of impact the Nuggets want to see from reserve wings, and the second unit again looked like it can change the tone of a game.
Julian Strawther, meanwhile, kept building on an encouraging start to the preseason after another productive outing. For a team trying to sort out roles before the games count, those performances matter because they are happening in the right places: on the wing, in lineups where defense, spacing and shot-making all carry extra weight. Denver still has more decisions to make, and the bench wings are making those calls harder to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Bruce Brown's Knicks Deal Says A Lot About Denver's New Reality
Bruce Brown is back in the kind of summer roster squeeze that has become common around the league, this time with the Knicks, who have signed several players to Exhibit 9 training camp deals as they sort through a crowded field for limited openings. New York values Brown for the same reasons many teams once did: versatility, experience and the ability to plug holes in a rotation without needing much time to adjust.
For Denver fans, the more telling part is the backdrop around his market. Brown said the teams interested in him "weren't many," and pointed to the second-apron salary cap rule as a frequent explanation, a reminder of how much the leagues spending limits can shape even familiar names. The Nuggets had room to add a veteran, but Brown never became a serious target there, a quiet sign of how different the roster-building reality is now compared with the one that once made him such a fit in Denver. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets Suddenly Have A Guard Battle Fans Didn't See Coming
The Nuggets are using the preseason the way most teams use it this time of year, as a live audition for the bench, and head coach David Adelman has made it clear he wants to sort through the group before the games start counting. Denver has several new pieces in the mix, including DeMar DeRozan, Marvin Bagley III and Alpha Diallo, while the backcourt depth chart is still being sorted out behind the main rotation.
What makes the situation interesting is the squeeze it creates for the players fighting for backup guard minutes. Tyus Jones, Julian Strawther and Spencer Jones are all in the conversation, but every preseason run is carrying more weight than usual as Adelman and his staff try to decide who fits and who may be the odd man out once the roster gets trimmed down over the course of the season. [Read more 🡒]