Peyton Watson ended up with the kind of payday he had been waiting for, and the timing only makes it look sweeter.
The Cleveland Cavaliers locked him into a four-year, $88 million deal, breaking the stalemate between Watson and the Nuggets and immediately making him a winner in that sign-and-trade. Then the NBA handed down its punishment to the Clippers, and Watson’s position looks even stronger now because Los Angeles had been one of the teams interested in getting him.
The Clippers were still involved in the Watson move on paper, since they received Max Strus in the multi-team deal, but they never landed Watson himself.
That matters more after the league’s ruling. Los Angeles had already agreed in July to trade Kawhi Leonard to Toronto, but the Raptors put the deal on pause before it could become official. They wanted the league to release the findings from its investigation into allegations that the Clippers had circumvented the salary cap to funnel millions, and they did not want to be caught up in anything that followed.
The delay in that offseason business left the Clippers in what Tony Jones of The Athletic called a "holding pattern" (subscription required), and that hold-up ended up working in Watson’s favor.
Even with Watson being from Long Beach, just outside Los Angeles, the circumstances point him toward Cleveland as the better outcome. The weather in Northeast Ohio may not match LA, but the situation surrounding the Clippers is now far uglier.
The league stripped the Clippers of five first-round picks, which seriously limits how they can build through the draft or use those assets in trades. The people most affected are the players in Los Angeles, who are stuck in the middle of a mess they had nothing to do with. Watson could have been one of them.
And while the timing of the investigation and penalties helped clarify the picture, the Clippers still might have been able to trade for Watson. Even if everything had been resolved earlier, though, they probably would not have wanted to give up assets for him after losing those five picks. At the same time, that kind of penalty could have pushed them to chase him even harder.
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Former Cavs First Rounder Suddenly Has A New Spotlight
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One name now sitting in that conversation is Cam Whitmore, the former first-round pick who was recently waived by the Cavaliers. Whitmore already has NBA experience, and with the Lakers still exploring options, he could be in play for a two-way contract if their search points in that direction. [Read more 🡒]