The Denver Nuggets received a disabled player exception worth $1.53 million on Thursday for rookie DaRon Holmes, who suffered an Achilles injury in the fourth quarter of his NBA Summer League debut against the Los Angeles Clippers on July 12.
Holmes, who turns 22 on August 15, is expected to miss the entire 2024-25 NBA season. According to Spotrac, the option is worth exactly $1,532,820, half of the $3,065,640 rookie salary for the 2024-25 campaign.
The Denver Nuggets have acquired a disabled player out of $1.53 million, league sources told The Athletic. This is after losing rookie DaRon Holmes for the season, due to a torn Achilles.
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) August 8, 2024
The disabled player exception gives an NBA team more leverage. However, it does not provide additional space for the 15-man roster. Injuries will often still hurt the team more often than it helps.
Where and when approved, the disabled player exception allows the club to sign a replacement player for 50% of the injured player's salary or a different amount of the tax-free average level. Any less is used.
The Denver Nuggets moved up six spots in the 2024 NBA draft to select DaRon Holmes out of Dayton.
After landing awkwardly while trying to contest Kobe Brown's pass with about 4:15 left, Holmes limped onto the court unaided and weightless on his right leg.
He left UNLV's Cox Pavilion on crutches. The Nuggets traded three second-round picks to the Phoenix Suns to move up six spots in the 2024 NBA draft (from No. 28 to No. 22) to acquire the rights to Holmes.
In addition, Denver selected Holmes from the University of Dayton. The injury is a major loss to the Nuggets frontcourt. At 6-foot-9 and 235 pounds, Holmes is expected to be Denver's leading rusher this season.
The Nuggets now have to rely on Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson as their top two scorers. Holmes' rotation minutes are now split between Dario Saric and Vlatko Cancar, who plays behind Nikola Jokic.
In his final year of college basketball at Dayton in the 2023-24 season, Holmes averaged career highs of 20.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists. He won Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
As the number 22 overall pick, Holmes became the fourth Flyer to go first in the NBA draft. He joined Obi Toppin, Johnny Horan, and Jim Paxson.
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