The Nuggets’ Peyton Watson trade talks didn’t end with a simple yes-or-no on a draft-pick return. According to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post, Denver spent time exploring player options, with Jaime Jaquez Jr. coming up in discussions with the Milwaukee Bucks and Kris Dunn surfacing in talks with the L.A. Clippers.
In the end, Watson was dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a 2031 first-round pick and a 2032 second-round pick. That return left plenty of fans frustrated, since Denver moved on from a breakout wing without getting a player back. But the reporting shows the Nuggets did at least check the market for that kind of deal.
Jaquez was one name that made plenty of sense on paper. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year runner-up was traded to the Bucks this offseason as part of the Giannis Antetokounmpo blockbuster, and he put up 15.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game last season while shooting 50.7% from the field.
He would have fit as a backup small forward and brought help on both ends. Still, there was a catch: Milwaukee never actually made an offer for Watson.
“Sixth Man of the Year runner-up Jaime Jaquez was floated in preliminary talks with Milwaukee, but those conversations were entirely conceptual - the Bucks never made an official sign-and-trade offer, league sources said,” the Nuggets insider reported. “Denver would’ve been intrigued by the possibility of adding him if an offer had materialized.”
That contract situation mattered too. Jaquez is in the final year of his rookie deal and is due an extension, which would have forced Denver into a decision sooner than it likely wanted to make one. Depending on the price, the Nuggets may have decided keeping Watson would have been the cleaner path.
Dunn was another logical fit, especially with the Clippers’ reported interest in Watson. Denver had a clear need for a defensive-minded guard, and Dunn’s numbers with L.A. last season - 7.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, while shooting 47.6% from the field and 37.4% from three - showed why he would have been appealing. But the Nuggets wanted draft capital back as well, and that stopped the talks from going anywhere.
“Kris Dunn was another potential player brought up in conversations with the Clippers, but Denver wouldn’t have agreed to a deal involving the 32-year-old guard without also getting draft capital back from Los Angeles, a source said,” Durando wrote.
The Clippers, after losing five first-round picks because of the NBA’s ruling on their cap circumvention, had little reason to part with more draft assets. That left Denver empty-handed on the player front, even though Dunn would have fit as an ideal backup point guard and could have shared the backcourt with Jamal Murray.
For all the what-ifs, the Nuggets also had to deal with the reality of their financial situation. Taking back a player in a sign-and-trade for Watson would have hard-capped them at the second apron, and making that work likely would have required sending out another player as well. Zeke Nnaji and Julian Strawther were the most obvious names in that scenario.
In the end, Denver settled for the pick package from Cleveland and avoided the extra salary complications that came with trying to land a player in return.
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