The Atlanta Hawks may not be as involved in the Peyton Watson sweepstakes as they once appeared to be.
Watson, one of a trio of restricted free agents still worth monitoring as training camp approaches, has not re-signed with the Nuggets. He joins Jalen Duren of the Pistons and Benedict Mathurin of the Clippers in that group, but with so few teams carrying the financial flexibility to chase them, the market has stayed thin.
Atlanta had come up as a possible landing spot for Watson, though recent reporting described that interest as more exploratory than real. A sign-and-trade has always looked messy here. Denver is operating in the second apron, and the Hawks’ roster situation adds another layer of difficulty.
That backdrop made this week’s Lonnie Walker addition in Denver worth watching. Some wondered whether the move could push Watson closer to being dealt. But when ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on the Walker signing, the Hawks were not among the teams mentioned in Denver’s talks.
“The Nuggets remain in active trade talks with multiple teams on a potential Watson sign-and-trade, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks and LA Clippers, sources told ESPN. Watson also holds a one-year, $6.5 million qualifying offer that would make him an unrestricted free agent next summer.”
That doesn’t close the door on Atlanta, but it does suggest the Hawks may have been talked about more loudly than they were actually involved. The latest reporting lines up with the idea that their interest had been overstated.
Watson still checks a lot of boxes for Atlanta. He fits the team’s age timeline, brings the kind of versatile wing skill set every front office covets, and flashed real shooting ability last season in Denver. The catch is that he did it over a small sample, and his asking price is said to be in the $20-$25 million per year range.
For the Hawks, that may be too steep a bet.
And this still has time to stretch out. Denver does not need to rush into a deal, and any Watson situation could linger into September and even all the way to training camp. For now, though, the latest reporting points to Atlanta not being all in on the Nuggets wing after all.
In Other News...
Hawks Keep Getting Linked To A Kuminga Deal That Feels Stuck
Jonathan Kuminga is still sitting in free agency late in the offseason, and the longer this drags on, the more it has become a test of how much flexibility interested teams actually have. The Hawks have been one of the clubs tied to the forward in sign-and-trade talk, but the idea has never really gotten past the concept stage because the money and the roster math are hard to make work.
Atlantas situation is part of why this remains unsettled. Conversations around Kuminga have continued with multiple teams, and a deal could still come together as the offseason winds down, but there has been no agreement yet. For the Hawks, the intrigue is obvious, since a move of that size would require real maneuvering before they could even think about fitting another piece into the mix. [Read more 🡒]