Nuggets decline DaRon Holmes II’s $5.55 million option, two years after trading up to draft him

The Denver Nuggets are giving up on the big man they traded up to draft two years ago. Denver is declining its $5.55 million fourth-year option on DaRon Holmes II for the 2027-28 season, reporter Aryan said Saturday night, citing league sources. The decision puts Holmes on track for unrestricted free agency next summer. The Nuggets have not announced it yet, and teams have until Monday, Nov. 2, to make these calls.

The Denver Nuggets are declining DaRon Holmes’ rookie-scale team option for the 2027-28 season, according to league sources.

— Aryan (@Ary_Report) October 31, 2026

Two years, 27 games

Holmes was the 22nd pick in the 2024 draft. Denver sent three future second-round picks to Phoenix to move up from No. 28 and take him out of Dayton. He then tore his right Achilles tendon in his first Summer League game and missed his entire rookie season.

He came back last season and played 25 games, including six starts when Nikola Jokić and the backup centers were hurt. He averaged 3.7 points in 8.4 minutes and made 44.4% of his threes, but on only 1.8 attempts a game. This season he has played six minutes across two games and scored three points.

Stats analyst Jake Coyne pointed out that Holmes’ 27 career games and 215 career minutes are the second-fewest among 2024 first-round picks. Only Oklahoma City’s Nikola Topić, who has another option decision due Monday, has played less.

Holmes said in the preseason that he finally trusted his Achilles enough to roll to the rim again instead of just popping out for jumpers. Coach David Adelman praised his effort and shooting and said his best chance was at center. But the minutes have not come. Zeke Nnaji got the backup center minutes when Marvin Bagley III sat in the preseason, and rookie Trevon Brazile has moved ahead of Holmes in the frontcourt rotation.

Why Denver let it go

This is mostly about next season’s payroll. Ryan Blackburn, who tracks the Nuggets’ salary cap, said Denver now projects to be about $20.8 million under the 2027-28 luxury tax, but with only seven players on its books for that season. Jokić has a player option for 2027-28, and Blackburn expects Nnaji to opt in to his.

Keeping Holmes would have used about a quarter of that tax room on a player outside the rotation. Without him, Denver has more space to add a veteran who can play right away.

What happens to Holmes now

• He stays on the roster and is still paid in full this season.
• He becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer unless he is waived or traded first.
• Denver, or any team that trades for him, cannot give him a starting salary above the $5.55 million the option would have paid. Other teams can offer more.
• His contract now expires after this season, which makes him easier to use as salary filler in a trade.

It is the same path Minnesota did with Cody Williams on Friday, when the Timberwolves turned down a fourth-year option to keep their 2027-28 payroll down. Holmes is the fourth player this fall to have a rookie-scale option turned down, after Williams, AJ Johnson and Pacome Dadiet.

That leaves 16 decisions still open before Monday’s deadline, including three in Oklahoma City and five in Washington. We are tracking every team’s choices in our running tracker of option decisions.