The deadline for teams to use rookie scale options for the 2027/28 season has expired without Nuggets picking up their 2024 first-round pick Darron Holmes. The decision ensures that Holmes will become an unrestricted free agent next summer rather than receive a guaranteed salary of $5,547,137 in 2027/28.
The Nuggets were high on the former Dayton forward in 2024, giving up three second-round picks to move up from No. 28 to No. 22 to draft him. However, after a few weeks, Holmes suffered a major setback suffered a torn Achilles during Summer League play.
Injury wiped out Holmes’ entire rookie season, and when he returned in 2025/26, he didn’t play a significant role for Denver, appearing in just 25 games and averaging 3.7 points and 1.4 rebounds in 8.4 minutes per night. The 24-year-old’s playing time hasn’t increased this fall, as he’s logged just five minutes in two regular season games.
Holmes put up solid numbers in 22 G League games last season, averaging 20.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 36.0 minutes for the Grand Rapids Gold. But given his limited use in the NBA, the emergence of a rookie power forward Trevon Brazileand the Nuggets’ cap situation (they’re the only team currently operating a second court that plans to continue to have a high payroll going forward), it’s no wonder the team declined his 27/28 option.
As long as Holmes isn’t waived this season, the Nuggets will keep theirs Bird rights next summer, but they will be prohibited from offering him a starting salary that exceeds the amount of his declined option. Instead, the restriction will apply to his new team if he is traded during the season, but it will not affect competitors.
With the decision on Holmes, we now have a decision on all 59 players entering the 2026/27 NBA season with ’27/28 team options on their rookie contracts as our tracker shows. We’ll have more information on these solutions in a new summary later today.
