Third-year big man DaRon Holmes II has been absent from the sideline in Las Vegas this week, left off the roster. That hasn’t stopped him from hanging out around the team, though. The 2024 first-round pick spent last week practicing with the Summer League Nuggets at their mini camp, and he did make the trip to the desert, where his goal has been to join as many informal pickup runs as he can find.

“My friends always ask me, ‘Why aren’t you playing?’ It wasn’t my decision,” Holmes said. “But at the end of the day, I’m gonna do whatever the coaches ask me to and the front office asks me to. I would love to play, but at the same time, if they’re telling me no, then I’m gonna listen to what they have to say, and I’m gonna get better every day regardless.”

Holmes, who turns 24 next month, has an emotionally complicated history at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion, the site where Denver has played most of its Summer League games in recent years. Two weeks after he was drafted with the 22nd pick, he tore his right Achilles tendon in his Summer League debut, delaying his rookie season and setting back his career in ways that still resonate to this day.

He made a triumphant return to competitive basketball last year in the same gymnasium where he suffered the injury, scoring 15 points in his re-debut. This would have been his second healthy Summer League, a normal step for players at his developmental stage. But Denver’s front office decided he had graduated from the annual showcase for young players.

“He’s been here every day since the season ended,” Nuggets executive vice president of player personnel Jon Wallace said recently. “Working on his shot, working on his conditioning, working on his mobility. He’s a very important factor in terms of his lethal shooting ability. So any time you can do that, you can find a place on the floor. As we continue to develop his game, we’ll see how he fits in with other guys. But we’re very pleased with his development at this point.”

The Nuggets made a point to slow-play his 2025-26 season. They didn’t trust that Holmes could make an immediate impact for a championship contender while coming off such a severe injury, so they sent him down to the G League for large chunks of the year, imploring him to master Denver’s system and spacing. He averaged 20.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and four assists with the Grand Rapids Gold under coach Ryan Bowen, who had previously served as a Nuggets assistant alongside David Adelman.

“Any time you have an injury the way he had it, it goes beyond just the physical,” Wallace said. “So it was in a place where we didn’t want to push him mentally and make sure he trusted his body, felt comfortable, but also (we wanted to) give him the ability to do it as his pace. I think he should be commended for the way he stayed true to it. Because a lot of guys don’t really return to their same form.”

“It used to be an injury where you’re done if you tear your Achilles,” Holmes said. “I think it’s definitely the worst injury you can have playing basketball. But it’s been a full process, and it does take a while. … I’m learning new things about my game. I’m learning how to play without being the most freakish athletic guy. I felt like I was very athletic before. I feel like I still am, but at the same time, I’m learning new things about my game.”

Limiting Holmes’ NBA minutes was a luxury that Denver probably can’t afford again next season. One of the deepest rosters of the Nikola Jokic era has been replaced by the swirling uncertainty of a cap crunch. Assuming Holmes is on the roster in September — if there’s any subtext to his absence from Summer League, it might be the Nuggets’ reluctance to risk damaging anyone’s trade value right now — he’ll be one of the most important players at training camp.

This could be a make-or-break season for his viability in Denver’s rotation, whether as a backup center or power forward. One of his G League missions last year was to learn the dunker spot, he told The Post.

“Maturing, understanding the game a little bit more,” he said. “Knowing where to be, knowing what spots to do. Knowing the plays. But that comes with just being here and getting in the reps.”

And so “being here” remained a priority for Holmes after the season. If he wasn’t going to be on the court at Summer League, he needed to find other ways to prove himself to a front office regime that’s not the same as the one that drafted him. Calvin Booth was his biggest believer in 2024. Now, it’s Wallace, Ben Tenzer and Adelman steering the ship. Holmes also pinpointed his defensive mobility as a top focus this summer.

“I need to be here early. I shouldn’t be going on vacations right now,” he said. “I haven’t proved myself yet. So my goal is to get better every day until I gain trust from my teammates and coaches that I can go out there and compete.

“… When guys come in, especially for Summer League, everybody is trying to earn something. Everybody is trying to get that spot. So everybody is playing hard. For me, that’s what I need to be around, because that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to earn my time on the court. So regardless of wherever anybody’s at in their careers, everybody’s out here busting their tails to get to where they want to be. I think that’s somewhere I need to be around.”

One reason for his confidence: The Nuggets picked up his team option for the 2026-27 season last October, six months after Booth lost his job. The fact that he’s still under contract in Denver was a Wallace and Tenzer decision. Holmes is set to make $3.4 million. He has another team option next summer, before the last year of his rookie-scale deal. If that’s picked up, he’ll carry a $5.5 million cap hit in 2027-28.

In the meantime, he’s still looking for a second glimpse of NBA action. The extent of his real playing time last season was a 10-game stint when Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas were both injured, forcing the Nuggets to call him up and start him.

The most enticing element of that small sample size was Holmes’ confidence as a floor-stretching big. He made 20 of his first 45 career 3-point attempts.

“I like ‘Deuce.’ I wish he was playing (this week), so we could do his pick-and-pop and let him shoot 3s all Summer League,” Nuggets assistant JJ Barea said, laughing. “I told him that in Vegas now, there’s going to be a lot of pickup games, a lot of NBA games randomly. Try to play in all of them so you can get reps in.”

Those reps are the only true remedy for the awkwardness of Holmes’ last two years, he believes.

“After an injury I had like the Achilles, what I had to go through, it’s really no joke,” he said. “Not a lot of people understand that. So I mean, the fact that I’m at where I’m at today, I’m very proud of myself.”

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Whether or not they eventually trade a starter, they have unfinished business. Three roster spots remain open, and Denver needs to fill at least two of them via free agency or trade to meet the NBA’s requirement. Teams must carry a minimum of 14 players on the 15-man roster.

Two of Denver’s spots might be reserved for a pair of incumbent restricted free agents, both of whom remain in unresolved contract negotiations with the team. There’s also LeBron James, who has the entire league on the edge of its seat.

And then there are other unsigned players in the ether, still looking for a home. Who could the Nuggets acquire or retain? It’s time for a free agency reset, starting with a look at Denver’s roster as it currently stands.

Nuggets projected depth chart

�ʳ�:��Jamal Murray, Tyus Jones

����:��Christian Braun, Julian Strawther

����:��Cam Johnson, Alpha Diallo

�ʹ�:��Aaron Gordon, Zeke Nnaji, Trevon Brazile

��:��Nikola Jokic, Marvin Bagley III, DaRon Holmes II

Keep in mind that players without standard contracts, such as KJ Simpson (point guard) and Bryce Hopkins (small forward), are not included here, but they do have a path to regular-season playing time in Denver.

Until further notice, the Nuggets have the same starting lineup that registered a superb 13.5 net rating last season (when everyone was healthy, which wasn’t often).

Their weak spots are predictably on the bench. Despite David Adelman and Jon Wallace’s cries for more ball-handling and creativity, the backcourt looks especially shallow for now. Bringing back assist-to-turnover demon Tyus Jones for the veteran minimum was a sensible move if it’s accompanied by others, but he cannot be the team’s only backup point guard. He seems better suited as a third-string at this stage of his career.

Between him, Murray and Strawther, three of Denver’s four guards are weak defenders. The front office’s attempt to address defense so far has been limited to forward acquisitions (Diallo, Brazile, Hopkins). This roster still needs a perimeter defender who’s proven that he can navigate screens at the NBA level and keep quicker star guards in front.

Strawther has floated in and out of the rotation throughout his first three years in the league. He’s shown flashes of being an excellent scorer at the backup two-guard position, but he needs to establish more consistency if he wants to seize the Tim Hardaway Jr. role next season. This will be a crucial season in his development. He’s extension-eligible until the start of the season. Otherwise, he’ll be a restricted free agent next summer.

As much as ball-handling has been a focus, the Nuggets also appear short on shooting depth. Strawther is currently the most reliable 3-point threat of the seven bench players under contract (36.3% over the last two years). Jones’ efficiency took a massive hit last season. Diallo is more of a slasher than a spacer offensively. Holmes is a promising stretch big on paper, but he’s more likely to do his damage via pick-and-pop than by standing in the corner.

The Nuggets have certainly improved their frontcourt athleticism this summer. But even with those moves, they’re taking fliers on rookies out of the EuroLeague and the second round of the draft. At small forward, power forward and center, Denver’s current bench has 138 combined minutes of career playoff experience.

LeBron James hope?

The Nuggets might not be officially out of the running yet, but ESPN’s Shams Charania reported early this week that Cleveland, Miami and Philadelphia seem to be getting the most attention as feasible destinations for the best free agent on the market. The Nuggets were always going to be an outsider in these sweepstakes, even after Klutch Sports superagent Rich Paul publicly confirmed mutual interest between his client and Denver.

James, on a cheap contract, would obviously plug a lot of holes in Denver. The 21-time All-NBA forward could slot into lineups with Jokic or run the show with certain bench units. But until he indicates otherwise, it’s best to assume LeBron won’t finish his career as a Nugget at this point.

Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones

If the Nuggets re-sign both of their restricted free agents and keep everyone else, they’ll suddenly look a lot more dangerous on paper (like they did last season). They would also be carrying 10 frontcourt players and four guards on their roster — a clear imbalance that would require subsequent moves.

Jones has been working out at the Nuggets’ practice gym during his contract negotiations, he said in a recent social media post, suggesting that any day could be his last at Ball Arena. His qualifying offer was the minimum salary. Denver’s preference would be to keep his average annual value as close to that as possible, likely in exchange for more guaranteed years.

Watson, meanwhile, has remained at an impasse with the team on salary, cracking the door open for potential sign-and-trades out of Denver. But if he and the Nuggets can reach an agreement, his role within the rotation will become one of the most fascinating storylines of training camp in late September. Will Watson move into the everyday starting lineup for the first time in his career? Will Adelman hand him the keys to the non-Jokic offense and see what he can do as a shot creator, now that Murray has been burdened with those thankless minutes for so many years?

Other top remaining NBA free agents

At the buyout deadline last season, the Nuggets were monitoring DeMar DeRozan’s situation in Sacramento and were ready to show interest if he became available, a league source told The Post. He didn’t.

Now that he’s been released from his contract, teams like Denver are lining up to pursue the former Raptors star wing. DeRozan turns 37 next month, but he remains durable and efficient as a scorer. He could chase his first ring as a super-sixth man in Colorado, but other teams closer to home (he’s from Los Angeles) could also be sniffing around. There’s a chance the Nuggets miss out on him, as they already did with Khris Middleton for the second time when he chose Washington earlier this month.

Staying in the semi-washed-up star department, Bradley Beal is available after declining his player option with the Clippers. So is Russell Westbrook, though Denver already burned that bridge last offseason — “the truth is that they didn’t want me back,” as he later told The Post. Gabe Vincent, Brandon Williams and Aaron Holiday are among the other guard options in a thin market.

The Nuggets have already shown their willingness to think outside the box this summer with the signing of Diallo.

Then there’s Bruce Brown, the fan favorite who had an up-and-down reunion with the Nuggets last season. Their trust in him as a secondary ball-handler has noticeably declined since 2023, when he was the championship team’s backup point guard. But he did grow into his smaller role under Adelman, shooting 43.2% from 3-point range in the second half of the season. The fact that the Nuggets haven’t already re-signed him at the minimum is a clear sign that he’s not at the top of their wish list, but they could do a lot worse than Brown if they run out of options and need to fill a roster spot.

Will all 15 spots be used?

The Nuggets went through most of last season with their 15th and final roster spot vacant. By the time they signed Spencer Jones and Tyus Jones to prorated minimum salaries for the rest of the year, they were safe from the luxury tax.

Watch for them to consider a similar strategy in 2026-27 if they’re up against the tax or either of the aprons. They could enter the season with a payroll slightly above one of those thresholds but with only 14 players rostered. It would give them a chance to dump more salary at the trade deadline and replace one or two roster spots with another buyout signing.

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One year after a EuroLeague team tried to lure him away from the NBA, Valanciunas might have a path to return overseas and play closer to home. Other NBA teams in need of frontcourt depth are also reportedly expected to show interest in the Lithuanian big man.

Valanciunas backed up Nikola Jokic during his lone season in Denver, one of the only situations in his 14-year NBA career in which he regularly played off the bench.

If this is the end of that career, Valanciunas will have appeared in 1,002 games, starting 854 of them. Most known for his six years and change in Toronto, he’s averaged 12.8 points and nine rebounds in the NBA. He averaged 8.7 points and 5.1 rebounds per game as a Nugget.

The 34-year-old had a non-guaranteed $10 million salary with the Nuggets next season. Last October, the team amended his contract to guarantee him $2 million of that total in exchange for pushing back the guarantee deadline to July 8.

The Nuggets’ rationale was to give themselves a longer runway into the 2026-27 league year to explore trade options involving Valanciunas. The problem with their efforts to trade him over the last few days was that any team taking on his contract would have had to shoulder the full $10 million.

Valanciunas was acquired by Denver in a trade that sent Dario Saric to Sacramento last offseason. After the trade was completed and while Valanciunas was competing overseas with the Lithuanian national team, the popular Greek club Panathinaikos attempted to pull him away from Denver with a three-year contract offer.

He was unable to sign it while under contract in the NBA, though, and the Nuggets were unwilling to release him from that deal. Teammates and coaches vouched for his professionalism throughout the 2025-26 season as he played the fewest total minutes of his career (871).

Knowing they would need a second-string center behind Jokic yet again, the Nuggets agreed to a one-year deal with Marvin Bagley III last week. Valanciunas was more successful than most backup bigs who’ve passed through Ball Arena, but he faded out of the rotation late in the season as coach David Adelman went to a small-ball look more frequently.

Bagley, DaRon Holmes II and Zeke Nnaji are currently the biggest bench players on the roster. Aaron Gordon and Spencer Jones have also played the five in some of those smaller lineups. Jones is currently negotiating for a new contract with the Nuggets as a restricted free agent. Bagley will be paid the veteran minimum salary, taking up a smaller percentage of Denver’s cap than Valanciunas did.

Waiving Valanciunas leaves Denver about $6 million below the second apron for now, but with five open roster spots. The Nuggets can choose to stretch the $2 million in guaranteed salary across three seasons if they want. That would reduce their dead cap to $666,666 for next season and each of the following two. It was unclear on Wednesday afternoon whether they would choose to do that.

All 5 feet and 10 inches of him.

That’s how some of his new pupils remember the Nuggets assistant coach, anyway. Never mind that in his 14-year playing career. As an NBA 2K videogame character, the dude could soar.

“I’m not gonna lie. JJ was nice in 2K. Like, oh my gosh,” Denver guard KJ Simpson said Tuesday. “Because they gave him a boost on his hops. I don’t know what it was. His 3-point rating was elite, and he could dunk.”

Fact check, anybody?

“I only dunked in warm-ups,” Barea said, laughing. “I never dunked in a game.”

Maybe being misremembered by the younger generation is simply part of growing older when you’re a retired NBA player. Barea doesn’t mind the video game’s flattering mistake, of course. As long as nobody in the Nuggets’ gym challenges him to dunk now. He’s in his mentoring stage, eager to pass along wisdom this week and next as the head coach of Denver’s Summer League squad. After three days of mini-camp at Ball Arena, he’ll lead the Nuggets to Las Vegas, where they tip off Friday (4:40 p.m. MT) against the Rockets.

“It’s just crazy that he’s my coach now for Summer League, and I used to grow up playing with him on 2K,” Nuggets second-round draft pick Trevon Brazille said. “Full circle.”

“Sniper. He was a sniper on 2K,” added Bryce Hopkins, the team’s other second-rounder.

Brazile, Hopkins and the rest of the Nuggets playing in Vegas will be trying to launch their careers the same way Barea did. Before he was an object of their admiration on 2K, he was an undrafted and undersized guard biding time in Puerto Rico, his home. He played for the Cangrejeros de Santurce out of college.

“All I wanted was an invite for Summer League,” he said, “so I told my agent, just get me an invite. I wanted to see for myself if I could play in the NBA or not.”

The Warriors and Mavericks invited him in 2006. He averaged 6.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and two steals at his first Summer League, playing 21 minutes per game. “I couldn’t believe I was there,” he said. “I was just like, what is this? It was so fast. I didn’t do good.”

But he made enough of an impression to get signed by Dallas, which became his NBA home. Working his way up through the D League, he appeared in 33 NBA games as a rookie and returned to Summer League with more confidence in 2007. He averaged 16 points and seven assists as a second-timer. He was off and running. Four years later, he was a folk hero in Dallas.

“I’ve been in these kids’ position,” Barea said. “I’m trying to help them out as much as I can in Summer League so they can have a good Summer League, (so) they can get jobs, they can get contracts and they can help the Denver Nuggets out. … I told them don’t take nothing for granted, you know? There’s a million kids in the world that want to be here, that want to play in Summer League, that want to try for the NBA to see them. So take every game, every opportunity and take advantage of it.”

Both 2026 Nuggets draftees are 23 years old. Simpson, who joined the team on a two-way contract last season, turns 24 next month. They were all 8 when Barea’s Mavericks upset Miami to win the 2011 championship. Barea had started only twice that regular season, but Dallas moved him into the starting lineup in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. He started the last three games, all wins, matching up on LeBron James and scoring 17 points in a pivotal Game 5.

“Obviously, I know his history and past in the league,” Simpson said. “To be able to learn from him, he’s been excellent. Great guy and great coach. I pick his brain, ask as many questions as I can.”

“He’s an intense coach, but in a good way,” Brazille said. “He knows the game (like) crazy. He was out there drawing up stuff. … Really good mind. Excited to be around him.”

Barea, who’s 42 now, hopes to learn from the experience as well, as both a leader and play-caller. He collaborates with head coach David Adelman on Denver’s offense as part of his regular job during the season. He’s still taking his first steps as a front-of-bench NBA assistant. He told The Post last year that one of his career ambitions is to be the head coach for the Puerto Rican national team someday.

In the meantime, “I’ve still gotta find that out, what kind of coach I am,” he says.

He has the Nuggets’ ears, regardless of which style he adopts over the next two weeks. They’ll listen to any advice a 2K legend has to impart.

So when it mattered most last season, he trusted Tyus Jones.

The Nuggets are re-signing the veteran point guard to a new one-year deal in NBA free agency, a league source told The Denver Post on Thursday afternoon.

They first acquired Jones off the buyout market in March. He played in only 11 regular season games for Denver, but when the team was facing elimination in the first round of the playoffs, Adelman turned to him for rotation minutes in Games 5 and 6 against Minnesota. Jones, whose claim to fame is his record assist-to-turnover ratio, was able to bring the ball up the floor safely against pressure and set up the Nuggets’ offense in those games.

He was a forgotten bright spot in their season-ending loss, a plus-five in 12 minutes.

“I just felt like we got Tyus for his ball-handling,” Adelman said during the series. “He’s a point guard. And I think in this series, with the pressure, he allowed Jamal (Murray) to get off the ball a little bit more.”

Like the acquisition of Marvin Bagley III, this will be a veteran minimum signing. Jones will carry a $2.45 million cap hit.

This will be his 12th season in the NBA. The Nuggets declined Jalen Pickett’s fourth-year team option earlier this week in a move that signaled where their trust resides on the point guard depth chart. Adelman and Denver’s lead executives have continued to emphasize the importance of adding ball-handlers to the roster this summer.

Jones, they hope, will be a dependable floor general off the bench, whether he ends up slotting in as a second- or third-string point guard.

He ended up in Denver by mistake. After getting traded from Orlando to Charlotte to Dallas in a matter of days before the mid-season trade deadline in February, he recovered from the whiplash and began to settle into a starting role with the Mavericks. They were a lottery team with more playing time available. He was “planning on sticking around and trying to make that work and figure it out,” he eventually told The Post.

Then the Mavericks changed their plans, waiving Jones so they could convert Ryan Nembhard from a two-way contract. That left Jones in search of a playoff contender to join. The Nuggets had been targeting forwards on the buyout market, but Jones’ reputation as a low-mistake, high-IQ ball-handler was appealing to them, according to league sources. His 5.47 assist-to-turnover ratio is the best in league history.

“I wanted to see if I could get somewhere else and try to make a run in the playoffs, try to play some meaningful basketball. … Playoff teams where I felt like I could make an impact and help, whatever area that they need me,” Jones told The Post after he first signed in Denver. “Whether it’s vocal in the locker room, or just being a connector. Whether it’s on the court, setting guys up, making plays, knocking shots down. Whatever the case may be, I’m ready to step into that role. If it changes night to night, I’m cool with that. I just want to help contribute to winning. … Nothing is set in stone. (My job is) just being a pro. Being ready to go on a night to night basis. Some nights your name’s gonna be called. Some nights, it’s not.”

Don’t get me wrong. Dream big or go home, right? King James and Nikola Jokic would destroy at least 60 rims during the regular season and break the Internet roughly 50 times a night. They could serve as the second and third estates to check/balance David Adelman’s executive branch. They’d eat up the first 17 minutes of any given “SportsCenter,” all by themselves. They’d be the best thing for Denver hoops and the worst thing for America’s “caps lock” buttons.

There’s just one problem with the idea of free agent LeBron James, one of the best three or four players ever, calling the Mile High City home at age 41.

The Nuggets probably can’t afford him.

They reportedly hit July sitting at about $12 million above the NBA’s first cap apron Which means if the King wants to sign a veteran minimum deal in order to play with Jokic, welcome aboard.

Frankly, it’s hard to see Nuggets boss Josh Kroenke pulling that kind of sales job off in this economy. For one thing, pegs LeBron to be If James plays more than 72 games, that estimate creeps into the $30-million-per-year ballpark.

That’s Peyton Watson-level money, allegedly. Which we’ll circle back to in a second.

The Russell Westbrook Experience was fun, or maddening, depending on which fan you ask. But Beastbrook agreed to a two-year contract worth an average of $3.39 million to live the Hard Nuggs Life. Hardaway Jr. took a $2.296 million flyer last summer on a one-year, here-for-the-ring fling.

Miami on Tuesday night basically tripled that number ($6.5 million), and the Nuggets let Tim and his career-high 224 3-pointers from last season walk out the door. Just like that. Meanwhile, Zeke Naji is slated to carry a $7.47-million cap hit next season. No wonder Nuggets faithful so often feel like walking to the nearest brick wall and bashing their foreheads against it for fun.

Nobody deserves those kinds of headaches, time and again. You’d hope Hardaway’s exit is the first sign that the Nuggets’ front office is ready to dig deep to match any offer for Denver’s restricted free agent wing, Peyton Watson, whose January scoring raised his market price and whose April absence raised some eyebrows.

Given Watson’s Los Angeles roots (Long Beach Polytechnic High School, then UCLA), it wasn’t a coincidence that SoCal’s two NBA franchises were the ones who kicked off the first few hours of free agency Tuesday by opening up oodles of cap space to shop with. The Clippers swapped Kawhi Leonard and his $50.3-million cap number to Toronto, while James announced that he was leaving the Lakers, reportedly opening up $51-52 million of cap room for the latter.

Watson can chase the highest bidder, but the Nuggets can match any offer. Is Watson worth $25 million per season if Christian Braun, who landed the extension last summer that P-Swat wanted, is worth $21.55 million to the Kroenkes? Sure. Is Watson worth $30 million, which puts him closer to Aaron Gordon’s ballpark ($31.97 million)? Probably not.

KSE’s first priority should be retaining Watson, who’s young, long, athletic, a rangy defender whose offensive game is finally matching the rest of his skill set. But should that fail, or the competing offers get absurd, then the second goal has to be making sure that Watson doesn’t walk out the door for nothing. The sign-and-trade option shouldn’t be a first resort, but it has to be somewhere within arm’s reach. The Clippers, however, reportedly own five over that same span.

Run it back and you’re The ill-fated Nuggets-Timberwolves series taught us that the franchise still had at least four more things under the hood that needed fixing:

• To get younger and more athletic.
• To get tougher. To find someone else to go after Jaden McDaniels.
• To play better defense.
• To have more adults on the bench who can counsel Adelman in the postseason.

King James ticks three of those four boxes, even as the legend’s 42nd birthday looms in December. Mind you, Gordon largely checks off the same ones, and he’s already on the payroll. For now.

Former Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth drafted Pickett with the 32nd overall pick in 2023. The 6-foot-2 reserve combo guard has struggled to break into Denver’s everyday rotation throughout his first three years in the league.

His $2.41 million salary next season would’ve offered the Nuggets a sliver of cap relief, but they chose instead to move on from the former Penn State star, seeking a fresh slate of point guard depth. Monday was the deadline to make a decision on his option.

Pickett, 26, will be a free agent for the first time in his career. He averaged 5.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 16.1 minutes per game last season. He appeared in 50 games, highlighted by a career-high 29-point, seven-assist performance in January to lead the Nuggets in an upset over Philadelphia without their entire starting lineup.

Pickett is shooting 38.7% from 3-point range on two attempts per game in his first three years. He also boasts a sturdy 3.63 career assist-to-turnover ratio.

But he’s remained a deep bench option under two different head coaches in Denver, from Michael Malone to David Adelman. Booth was fired in April 2025. Then, new co-general managers Jon Wallace and Ben Tenzer signed veteran point guard Tyus Jones off the buyout market late last season when the Nuggets wanted ball-handling depth. Jones received playoff minutes over Pickett during their first-round series against the Timberwolves.

Qualifying offers

The Nuggets extended qualifying offers to Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones on Monday — a formality that ensures they’ll become restricted free agents on Tuesday.

Watson’s qualifying offer was $6.5 million. Jones’ offer was the minimum. Wallace and Tenzer have indicated that Denver is hopeful it can retain both players. The incumbent team will have the right to match any offer sheet a restricted free agent receives from an outside team.

Watson is regarded as one of the top free agents on the market, restricted or otherwise. The Lakers, Bulls and Nets were projected to be the three main cap space teams with the ability to throw a big offer at Watson coming into the offseason, but the Clippers have emerged now as another potential suitor. They’ve been shedding salary in recent days and clearing out cap space, including $16 million Monday when they declined Bogdan Bogdanovic’s team option. Bogdanovic, according to a league source, will be a Nuggets target in unrestricted free agency.

Meanwhile, Denver’s roster remains unchanged. Teams are officially allowed to negotiate with free agents starting at 4 p.m. MT next Tuesday (because they definitely haven’t already been negotiating with anyone; that would never happen). It’s the epicenter of transaction season, with a number of trades also likely to take place in the surrounding hours and days.

The Nuggets are expected to remain engaged in trade talks as much as any team during this time, with looming luxury tax constraints ���Ի���Peyton Watson set to become a restricted free agent. Before the critical week arrived, co-general managers Jon Wallace and Ben Tenzer spoke to reporters after the draft. While they made a point of not going into detail on specific plans, here are a few takeaways from their comments and other relevant notes to Denver from around the league.

Wallace wants ball-handling, ‘creativity’

After being named captain of his national team, Nikola Jokic recently took part in a rare interview scrum with reporters in Serbia, where he has no contractual media obligations (unlike those required of him during the NBA season). With his usual bluntness, Jokic said the Nuggets weren’t a good enough team to win last season based on the results.

Denver’s brass was asked about those comments on Wednesday, and Wallace responded by sharing some thoughts on the team’s internal and external goals.

“I think for your leader to say that, you can’t deal with a problem until you acknowledge it as a problem. And he did that,” Wallace said. “I think any time you get bounced in the first round like that, everyone’s gotta look themselves in the mirror. I think a large part of that is health. I think a large part of that is, as our team has entered into a more seasoned state individually, the type of basketball we play. The way we prepare, the way we attack teams is gonna have to change a little bit. And I think our guys were able to kind of have that opportunity to communicate amongst themselves about what’s gonna be needed from them this summer.

“Obviously, what we did (in the draft) was trying to plug a couple of holes in that … guys who can help with the toughness, defensive ability, rebounding. And now from there, we’ll look to see what we can do in terms of adding the creativity. … The ball-handling.”

From coach David Adelman to Wallace, the Nuggets have been unafraid to admit they want more players who can create a shot or an advantage off the dribble. That seems to be a theme around the league after recent playoff runs by Oklahoma City (SGA, Jalen Williams, Ajay Mitchell, Cason Wallace), Indiana (Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, TJ McConnell, Bennedict Mathurin) and San Antonio (De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper) — teams that had a surplus of ball-handlers capable of taking over for a possession.

Wallace said the Nuggets tried to move up in the draft for a point guard. Now that they were unable to accomplish that, they’ll be eyeing creators on the trade market in free agency. Wallace’s allusion to “the type of basketball we play” was probably in regard to that; Denver’s lack of quickness and rim pressure stood in stark contrast to Minnesota’s aggressive downhill attack during the playoffs.

Peyton Watson’s free agency landscape

Part of Denver’s vision for a team with more shot creation involves Watson, of course. Multiple team sources have reiterated to The Post in recent days that the 23-year-old wing is a top offseason priority. The front office’s comments on Wednesday also indicated as much.

“We feel good about where that’s at,” Tenzer said, “and we hope Peyton is here a long time.”

“A lot of the guys that we already have in-house, we expect to have those guys here for a long time, as Ben mentioned,” Wallace added later, not mentioning Watson by name but clearly referencing him. “And so a lot of that is just, make sure we communicate. We already have good relationships with those guys. Really following up, making sure they’re in a good spot and good space for us to hopefully get something done in the future.”

A couple of recent transactions bode well for Denver. Coming into the offseason, the Lakers, Bulls and Nets were seen as the biggest threats to throw a big offer sheet at Watson because of their financial flexibility. But Minnesota’s salary dump of Julius Randle last Monday took a chunk out of Brooklyn’s cap space and Chicago’s. The Bulls acquired Nic Claxton’s $23.3 million salary in the trade. The Nets absorbed about a $10 million payroll increase by turning Claxton into Randle.

Later in the week, Los Angeles agreed to a max extension with incumbent free agent Austin Reaves that will pay him an estimated $41.3 million next season, . The Lakers have more moving parts to sort out next week, most importantly, LeBron James. They’re also reportedly under pressure from Luka Doncic to pursue a rim-running center.

Nuggets ‘confident’ they can re-sign Spencer Jones

He’s been much less discussed than Watson, but Jones will also be an important restricted free agent for the Nuggets next week. He emerged last season as a viable 3-and-D wing who plays with a physicality that Denver otherwise lacked.

After earning a standard contract, he told The Post that he wanted to enter restricted free agency this summer rather than take more guaranteed years with the Nuggets. Now is his chance to test the waters and find out if any suitors will approach him with an offer sheet. Denver doesn’t have much financial wiggle room for the back half of the roster, but Wallace had this to say on Wednesday:

“I think Spencer’s done himself a lot of favors this past year, specifically how he stepped in and defended, made shots. He was just a big part of what we did. But we feel confident. He’s a homegrown guy. You want to reward those guys for sticking to the plan and really developing themselves. So we feel confident in where we are with him.”

Like Watson, Jones is due a qualifying offer by the end of Monday.

Jonas Valanciunas reportedly Europe-bound

According to an overseas report by BasketNews, Denver’s backup center is prepared to sign a contract with the Lithuanian Euro League team Zalgiris Kaunas — an unsurprising development after Panathinaikos tried to lure him away from the NBA after the Nuggets traded for him last summer.

In 2025, they had no reason to release him from his contract. This time, due to the payroll crunch, it’s a near certainty that Denver will let him go — whether via trade, waive-and-stretch or clean release. Tenzer said the team is still evaluating how to handle the situation. Valanciunas has a $10 million non-guaranteed salary for next season, with $2 million of it guaranteed.

“We saw the reports, too,” Tenzer said. “But you know, we saw that last summer, so it’s all good.”

Tim Hardaway Jr. free agency

Late last season, Adelman said unprompted that he would love to have Hardaway back for a second year. The veteran guard joined the Nuggets in 2025 on a one-year veteran minimum contract and went on to post one of the best shooting seasons of his career. After finishing third place for NBA Sixth Man of the Year, he might have priced himself out of the minimum, which is what Denver will be relying on to fill out roster spots.

One potential Hardaway suitor to watch is Miami. The Heat will be looking for spacers to put around Antetokounmpo, who might already be dealing with crowded driving lanes because Bam Adebayo is his new frontcourt partner.

Hardaway has feasted on open shots created by Jokic and Doncic in recent years. Giannis would be a nice addition to his collection of superstar teammates in a city he calls home. Tim Hardaway Sr. spent parts of six seasons in Miami, making three All-NBA teams with the Heat. If they approach Tim Jr. with a marginal pay increase, it might be a natural fit.

In the lead-up to Tuesday’s draft, the Nuggets have primarily been gauging the trade market for Cam Johnson and Christian Braun, league sources have told The Post, confirming reports from other outlets. But Braun’s current value as a trade asset has been in question since the end of the season, and team president Josh Kroenke has said on the record that “everything is on the table” except for trading Nikola Jokic — a statement that raised eyebrows regarding the team’s willingness to listen to offers for Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray as well.

Whoever ends up getting moved, lead executives Jon Wallace and Ben Tenzer will have a difficult needle to thread: shave salary ���Ի���bring back rotational talent (and perhaps recoup some of the draft capital Denver sacrificed during the previous front office regime).

Who might they be able to target? Here’s a comprehensive list of 50 players the Nuggets could consider, broken down into three tiers, ordered from highest to lowest 2026-27 salary.

Note: Free agent sign-and-trade candidates not included — only players who are already under contract in 2026-27.

High-risk star player shake-ups

Remember, Kroenke has rationalized the 2025 Michael Porter Jr. trade by pointing out that it’s no longer viable to build around three max players under the current collective bargaining agreement. (Porter was signed to his max contract extension before this CBA.) With that in mind, if the Nuggets are going to roll the dice on an expensive star this offseason, it would almost certainly be in exchange for Murray’s $50.1 million salary. These 10 players are worth mentioning, but consider them the least likely on this list.

Anthony Davis, Wizards F, $58.5 million: Ever since Dallas traded him in February, there’s been a lot of buzz that Davis might not want to stay in Washington long-term. If he wasn’t so pricey and injury-prone, he’d make a lot of sense as a complementary two-way big to pair with Jokic.

Jaylen Brown, Celtics F, $57.1 million: If the All-NBA wing is leaving Boston, it’s probably as part of a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade.

Kawhi Leonard, Clippers F, $50.3 million: Embroiled in a cap circumvention scandal but fresh off the best offensive season of his career at 34 years old, the two-time Finals MVP is the type of ceiling-raising gamble that a lot of teams could talk themselves into.

De’Aaron Fox, Spurs G, $49.5 million: The Spurs have signaled that they plan to stand by Fox after his rough Finals — but what if, instead, they wanted a guard who’s better from 3-point range and more versatile off the ball to fit with their young backcourt? And what if Denver wanted a quicker downhill guard to provide better paint penetration?

Zach LaVine, Kings G, $49 million: Ex-Nuggets GM Calvin Booth flirted with the possibility of LaVine a couple of years ago. Now he’s an expiring contract. Twelve years in, the two-time All-Star is yet to prove he can be a winning player.

Kevin Durant, Rockets F, $43.9 million: Probably not a fit with what Denver needs in a star shot creator right now, but also, it’s Kevin Freaking Durant.

Ja Morant, Grizzlies G, $42.2 million: Is there anything left in Morant’s legs? This would be the ultimate buy-low move.

Zion Williamson, Pelicans F, $42.2 million: If it’s rim pressure you seek, few can do it more explosively than Williamson. Work ethic and injury concerns have followed him for years.

Franz Wagner, Magic F, $41.8 million: A secondary scorer who can defend, but he played only 34 games last season.

Kyrie Irving, Mavericks G, $39.5 million: The 34-year-old is coming off a torn ACL, but he’s shown throughout his career that he can be a match made in heaven for other generational superstars (LeBron James, Luka Doncic).

High-end role players, $20 million+ division

The more expensive a role player’s contract is, the less that player should generally cost from a trade standpoint. That’s the appeal of some of these 15 candidates. But can the Nuggets make the math work if they don’t want bigger salary figures on their roster to begin with?

Jrue Holiday, Trail Blazers G, $34.8 million: A consummate winner, with two rings this decade and two years left on his contract. You’re not getting any younger, though.

Jordan Poole, Pelicans G, $34 million: Poole is one-dimensional and overpriced, but he’s also going to be an expiring contract next season.

Dejounte Murray, Pelicans G, $32.8 million: Another buy-low option, the one-time All-Star has played in only 27% of games over the last two seasons.

Immanuel Quickley, Raptors G, $32.5 million: David Adelman has made it no secret how much he wants more ball-handling on the roster next year.

Jalen Suggs, Magic G, $32.4 million: Orlando is another team that wants to shed salary on the trade market this summer, and Suggs is the obvious candidate to shop. Injury-prone and inconsistent offensively, he’s also a capable table-setter and one of the best defensive guards in the league at his best. His contract is descending over the next four years. One to watch, for sure.

Andrew Wiggins, Heat F, $30.2 million: The former No. 1 overall pick is a sturdy, veteran two-way wing on an expiring contract. And Miami might be looking to make a few corresponding moves to build out the roster around Giannis if he ends up there.

RJ Barrett, Raptors F, $29.6 million: Probably less enticing to Denver than Quickley would be, but Barrett has averaged over 19 points per game in five straight years. Unfortunately for both he and Quickley, their current legacy is having been the trade package for OG Anunoby in 2023.

Jarrett Allen, Cavaliers C, $28 million: Just hear this one out: If the Nuggets really want to get creative in rethinking how to build around Jokic, one way to try is by using the most position-defying center of all time as, well, not the center. Put Jokic at the four, and go double-big with a traditional drop-coverage big for rim protection and vertical spacing.

Trey Murphy III, Pelicans F, $27 million: The belle of the ball this offseason — positional size, scoring and spacing for great financial value. If the Nuggets try to get into a bidding war for Murphy, they will probably lose. Doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying.

DeMar DeRozan, Kings F, $25.7 million: The Nuggets were monitoring his situation before the buyout deadline in March, but Sacramento didn’t waive him. This salary figure might be too much.

De’Andre Hunter, Kings F, $24.9 million: Sacramento makes sense as a trade partner because it has several players in this salary range (Keegan Murray and Malik Monk also among them).

Jonathan Kuminga, Hawks F, $24.3 million: Kuminga might have outsized ambition for himself, but he could provide some much-needed youth in Denver.

Nic Claxton, Nets C, $23.3 million: Same idea as Allen, equally unlikely.

Dillon Brooks, Suns F, $21 million: You don’t want to rely too much on Brooks in the playoffs like Phoenix just did, but he’s coming off his first 20-PPG season and — more importantly — brings a bit of a deranged edge to any locker room he enters.

Shaedon Sharpe, Trail Blazers G, $20.1 million: Scoring guard entering a four-year, $90 million rookie extension.

Role players, sub-$20 million division

There are dozens of players closer to the bottom of the NBA salary scale that could make sense for Denver to acquire entirely because of contract-matching. Here are 25 of them.

PJ Washington, Mavericks F, $19.8 million: The streaky shooter got hot at the right time in 2024 when he helped the Mavs reach the Finals. Washington will be 28 in August.

Grayson Allen, Suns G, $18.1 million: Previously a 41.4% career 3-point shooter, Allen took a dip last season (34.9%) when his attempts increased.

Keldon Johnson, Spurs F, $18 million: The Spurs probably wouldn’t trade someone so important to their team culture, but what if they had an opportunity to get Gordon? Then again, why would the Nuggets help them get even better?

Lu Dort, Thunder G, $17.7 million: Welcome to the second apron, OKC. Are you willing to pay up? Jokic’s newest enemy is one of the role players who could be on the chopping block if not.

Klay Thompson, Mavericks G, $17.5 million: The future Hall of Famer is a bench player at this point, and his salary is a lot to pay for a bench player. Still, volume shooting is a nice luxury.

Nikola Jovic, Heat F, $16.2 million: Jokic’s Olympic teammate is coming off a down year in Miami.

Duncan Robinson, Pistons G, $16 million: Detroit has room to spend a little more on a wing upgrade. Denver needs a cheaper one to help make room for Peyton Watson. Robinson for Cam Johnson, anyone?

Obi Toppin, Pacers F, $15 million: If the Pacers want to create more playing time for Jarace Walker, Toppin is their most likely trade candidate. Key contributor to their 2025 Finals run.

Herb Jones, Pelicans G, $14.9 million: His three-year, $68 million extension takes effect in 2027. In the meantime, this is one of the best bargains in the NBA for an elite 3-and-D guy.

Bobby Portis, Bucks C, $14.5 million: Not that the Nuggets need another small-ball big, but this is an affordable salary with a 2027 player option.

Jonathan Isaac, Magic F, $14.5 million: Despite flashes of extraordinary defense throughout his career, Isaac averaged only 10 minutes off the bench in the 52 games he played last season.

Grant Williams, Hornets F, $14.3 million: Expiring money for a hard-nosed bench player with Finals experience (and an extensive injury history).

Corey Kispert, Hawks G, $14 million: The 6-foot-6 shooter was traded from Washington to Atlanta at the deadline last season.

Moses Moody, Warriors G, $12.5 million: Moody’s status entering next season is unclear after he ruptured his left patellar tendon in March, a grisly season-ending injury for a solid role player.

Jarred Vanderbilt, Lakers F, $12.4 million: Probably can’t be trusted to stay out of foul trouble or stay in your playoff rotation, but Nuggets fans know this defense-and-energy wing well. Los Angeles might have to attach picks to get off his contract.

Davion Mitchell, Heat G, $12.4 million: Another ball-handler Denver could take a chance on. Showed flashes of big-game potential in the 2025 playoffs.

Isaac Okoro, Bulls G, $11.8 million: The Bulls are under new management. What direction will they choose this offseason?

Sam Hauser, Celtics G, $10.8 million: Boston and Denver would make natural trade partners, as the two championship contenders that had the most disappointing playoff results last season.

Naji Marshall, Mavericks G, $9.4 million: Marshall has torched Denver’s shaky perimeter defense a few times in recent years.

Aaron Wiggins, Thunder G, $9 million: OKC is bursting at the seams with playable guys who don’t play. Wiggins and Isaiah Joe ($11.3 million) faded from the rotation in key playoff games, which is more of a commentary on the Thunder’s depth.

Tre Mann, Hornets G, $8 million: Charlotte is an ascending team with a surplus of rotation guards and a shortage of high-quality forwards. Could be allured by Johnson or Gordon.

Goga Bitadze, Magic C, $7.6 million: Easy salary filler, a potential cheap backup big to replace Jonas Valanciunas.

Gradey Dick, Raptors F, $7.1 million: Might be time for a fresh start for the 22-year-old wing who was drafted 13th overall out of Kansas in 2023.

Jake LaRavia, Lakers F, $6 million: LaRavia played in all 82 games last season, but defenses are rightfully skeptical of how threatening his 3-point shot is.

Kris Dunn, Clippers G, $5.7 million: The Nuggets played him off the floor by the end of their 2025 first-round series against Los Angeles, illuminating offensive deficiencies. But his point-of-attack defense might be more than worth the flaws.

But he refused to complain. Declined to whine.

Because Marlowe is known as a total professional, he expressed gratitude on social media for his 22-year run calling Nuggets games on Altitude Sports. He did not criticize his bosses for what they did on Tuesday night, texting The Post on Wednesday afternoon, “I just don’t feel it is appropriate for me to comment at this time.”

Allow me.

The decision Kroenke Sports Entertainment made — moving on from Marlowe and color commentator Scott Hastings — is disappointing, if not tone-deaf.

The Nuggets are coming off their most embarrassing playoff series in franchise history given the expectations and capitulation. It cracked open a vase of uncomfortable questions.

Trade Jamal Murray? Ship out Aaron Gordon? Deal Cam Johnson? Keep Peyton Watson?

President Josh Kroenke admitted the early exit “put everything on the table.”

Apparently, that applied to the broadcasters as well.

It remains unclear who called this shot, though if titles matter, it should fall under the purview of Kevin Demoff, the president of team and media operations for KSE.

Demoff has seemed detached from Denver since his hiring in 2024. California media members who have long earned my respect speak well of Demoff when the discussion involves the Rams.

His connection to the Nuggets and Avs has felt more transactional than personal. Never more than on Wednesday when The Post broke the news. Regardless of who made the call, KSE took a man who left so many of us happy and smiling and told him to start packing.

Remember, Marlowe was there through two 15s — Carmelo Anthony and Nikola Jokic. His joy in calling Jokic’s games was unmistakable and unrivaled.

Here was a man who answered the bell for nearly six years knowing that the audience had virtually disappeared because of a dispute with Comcast. An entire swath of Nuggets fans was lost forever. Marlowe did not let it affect his work.

But with his contract expiring, KSE let him go. Was it to change the vibe? Simply being cheap? Who knows.

Marlowe earned the right — even in an increasingly unfair business — to exit on his terms. And clearly he was not ready to leave, saying in his post, “I’m not retiring, and this is not goodbye.”

I switched carriers a year or so into the dispute to keep getting the Nuggets games.

Marlowe was an easy listen, and I enjoyed Hastings wearing out the officials. They made a good team.

And Marlowe made it fun. His “Sombor Shuffle,” “Porter Quarter,” “The Jokie Dok,” “On Fiyah!” and “bunny hop in the pea patch” were a treat. He provided sprinkles on a chocolate chip ice cream cone at a time when local broadcasts have become painfully vanilla and homogenized.

Season after season, Marlowe delivered, and now his time is up? Without eight months to let him know how much he is appreciated? Doesn’t seem right.

At least Hastings is remaining on his midday radio slot. Marlowe will no longer be around. That shouldn’t be allowed.

Basketball announcers are not Vin Scully. If baseball is a romance, football is a one-night stand. But basketball fits somewhere in between. The 82 games form a relationship between the team’s voice and the fans.

If Hastings taught us about the game, Marlowe reminded us that it was a game, his call conjuring images of his idol, the legendary former Los Angeles Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn.

And yes, I have a soft spot for Marlowe because he put in the work with humility and grace.

At every Nuggets pregame presser I attended over the last three seasons, he was there, taking notes and getting in a question or two. He integrated his knowledge seamlessly into the broadcasts, whether an injury update or a strategic shift.

And still, KSE put him on mute. They decided at 74, it was time for a change. And if you focus on his age, it is easy to understand why. But it was just a number, not a reflection of his energy and enthusiasm.

Seeing Hastings at games, he would provide a wisecrack, wondering if I was lost. Scott knows hoops.

And never did I listen to a Nuggets game and think Marlowe had lost his fastball.

Did he mix up some names? Sure. But it was part of the local broadcaster’s charm, part of his appeal. He worked with passion that came through the screen. And he did so without nauseating homerism. He wanted the Nuggets to win, but did not traffic in the terms of “We” and “Us.”

The plan, it appears, is to announce replacements in mid-to-late August. Katy Winge has earned a bigger role on the broadcasts. So maybe she takes over for Hastings.

Marlowe is not easily replaceable, especially if the Nuggets follow the trend of going younger and less experienced.

Just because someone has good vocal cords does not make them great in a play-by-play role. And high basketball IQ alone does not work without a soothing tone with proper inflection in big moments.

Marlowe had this. Excuse me. Has this.

His resume is more akin to that of the most interesting man in the world than to that of a broadcaster. He received a college scholarship in basketball and volleyball at San Diego State, and eventually played for Team USA’s indoor volleyball team. He acted in a soap opera and an NBC sitcom.

But he found his niche in hoops. And remarkably, he never let his past go to his head. He was always friendly and could spin a yarn, like a Bobby Knight story, like he was telling it for the first time.

Marlowe is the type of broadcaster that I believe should have kept his job until he decided to turn off the mic.

For a franchise that faces so many difficult decisions this offseason, renewing his contract should have been the easiest one.