DaRon Holmes II says he trusts his Achilles enough to roll again, then scores eight in 12 minutes at the Clippers

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Oct. 14, 2026 — For most of his first year back from a torn Achilles, DaRon Holmes II played like a pick-and-pop big because he did not trust his body to do anything else. This week he said that has changed. On Wednesday night at the Clippers, he finished above the rim.

“Last year, I was just popping, mainly because I didn’t fully trust my Achilles,” Holmes told reporter Bennett Durando this week. “So I wasn’t 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.”

He opened the fourth quarter of Denver’s 122-110 preseason loss with an alley-oop dunk off an Alpha Diallo lob 14 seconds after checking in. He finished with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting and 2-of-2 from the line in 12 minutes. He grabbed an offensive rebound and drew a foul to make both free throws, scored on a running layup in the final minute, and the Nuggets were plus-3 with him on the floor.

Stuck at the bottom of the rotation

Those minutes came in the fourth quarter with Denver trailing by double digits, which is where Holmes has spent most of this preseason. He has been one of the last Nuggets off the bench, a third-unit big entering his third season. When Marvin Bagley III was inactive against Chicago last Sunday, coach David Adelman gave the backup center minutes to Zeke Nnaji instead.

Adelman still sees a path for him, and he said it runs through center.

“We all see DaRon, his effort level,” Adelman said. “He’s in amazing shape. Shoots the hell out of the ball. For me, it’s more about what’s the best chance for him, and right now, I think that’s the five.”

Playing power forward would give Adelman more ways to use him, but only if Holmes can defend the position. Adelman pointed to Chicago rookie Caleb Wilson, who had 17 points and five rebounds against Denver on Sunday, as an example of the athletes he would be asked to guard. “If he’s gonna play some four, which gives me options with him, he’s gonna have to be able to guard the four,” the coach said. “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.”

Holmes said he watches film of his teammates, Aaron Gordon included, to close that gap. “It’s just being up to touch, being physical, making sure that the guy doesn’t have a lot of open space,” he said. “So for someone like me that’s 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. … I feel like I’ve done a better job of that over the summer, but I’ve gotta continue to gain Coach’s trust.”

The clock on his rookie deal

The stakes go beyond preseason minutes. Holmes is still Denver’s most recent first-round pick. In 2024 the Nuggets sent three future second-round picks to move up from No. 28 to No. 22 and take him out of Dayton. He then tore his Achilles in his first Summer League game. He came back last season, played well for the G League’s Grand Rapids Gold and made six emergency starts when Nikola Jokić and Jonas Valančiūnas were hurt, though Denver was outscored by a combined 24 points in his minutes in those games.

According to Spotrac contract data, Denver has until the end of October to pick up or decline a $5.5 million team option on the fourth and final year of his rookie-scale contract.

“This is the time for us to showcase what we’ve been working on this summer,” Holmes said this week. “I know for me, I’m already feeling a lot more comfortable from where I was last year to now. Feel like I’ve gotten a lot stronger. Feel like I’m understanding the game a lot better.”

Why it matters

A big who can roll and finish above the rim is something Denver can use behind Jokić. One who can only pop is not. Eight points in the fourth quarter of an exhibition will not move Holmes up the depth chart by itself, but the alley-oop he opened the quarter with was exactly the play he said he could make again. The Nuggets close the preseason against the Lakers on Friday, and the team option decision follows soon after.