How DaRon Holmes II became Denver Nuggets' ideal draft pick

DENVER — If DaRon Holmes calls you a legend, don’t be too flattered.

It’s nothing personal. It’s just Holmes’ all-encompassing expression, his hello and goodbye. It started in high school. By the end of college, it was practically a comprehensive attitude on life.

“Every time he saw you, every time you did something, it’s: ‘You’re a legend. You’re a legend. You’re a legend,'” University of Dayton basketball assistant coach Ricardo Greer said, laughing. “Eventually I was like, that’s the last ‘legend’ you’re gonna call me.”

“All my friends, we call each other kings and legends,” Holmes explained. “… So I always say to everybody, ‘You’re a legend.’ And the first time I say it, people are just happy, like, ‘Thank you, man!’ And then after a couple of times they’re like, ‘You call everybody this.'”

Denver’s newest rookie wields a friendly disposition to go with his versatile basketball skillset — characteristics that won over the Nuggets in equal measure this spring during the pre-draft process. They traded up six places in the first round Wednesday to select Holmes 22nd overall, their latest bet on non-lottery youth as a viable asset capable of contributing to championships.

Holmes is a player whose shape-shifting ability could position him to play right away. At 6-foot-9 without shoes, he occupies the awkward space between a power forward and small-ball center. Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth outlined a future this week in which Holmes can eventually start as a four. It’s certainly easy to envision him defensively in lineups next to Nikola Jokic, who plays higher up the floor against ball screens than most centers. Holmes was an elite college rim protector and help defender who could rotate across the paint to anchor Denver behind the less vertically gifted Jokic.

For now, he seems just as well suited to space the floor as a center, which could help provide Denver’s second unit a fresh look. Dayton played a lot of five-out last season with Holmes, even entrusting him to bring the ball up and start the offense.

“I definitely see (playing the four) in the future, especially the way the game is now,” Holmes said. “You look at the Grizzlies. They just got Zach Edey. They’re probably gonna play him and JJ (Jaren Jackson Jr.) together. I think that’s perfectly fine for me. Small-ball five will be good at times. I don’t think that will be an all-time thing for me. I’m probably not gonna start at the five if I’m gonna be a starter (someday).”

Holmes grew up mostly in the Phoenix area. His mom coached him in YMCA hoops, but he didn’t instantly gravitate toward basketball as a dream career. He enjoyed playing soccer as well.

Above all, Holmes’ goal was to travel the world. Then he started to develop basketball talent, and as he put it, “I found out, hey, I can make money playing this thing. After I found that out, I was like, ‘I’ve gotta train as hard as I can.'”

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