The Kawhi Leonard trade sitting in limbo between Toronto and Los Angeles has already started to cast a shadow over Denver, and Peyton Watson is right in the middle of it.
The Nuggets aren’t part of the Leonard deal, but they could end up feeling the effects anyway. The Clippers have had serious interest in Watson, and on the latest episode of The Zach Lowe Show, the missing piece was laid out plainly: without the Raptors’ draft picks, Los Angeles may not have the ammunition Denver wants in a sign-and-trade.
"Imagine being the Clippers. Peyton Watson is just sitting there as a restricted free agent.
You have cap room... The Clippers would certainly like to, maybe, if they wanted to, make an offer for Peyton Watson.
Do they have the Raptors' draft picks? They don't have the Raptors' draft picks.
Are they ever going to get them? We don't know."
The deal Los Angeles agreed to send to Toronto for Leonard includes Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, a 2031 unprotected first-round pick, a 2033 unprotected first-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick swap, and two second-round picks. If that trade is eventually completed, the Clippers could then use some of that draft capital in a move for Watson.
That matters because Denver’s asking price has already been described as too "steep" for Los Angeles. Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported last week that the Nuggets have been seeking a package similar to what the Jazz got for Walker Kessler.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Denver is eager to move Watson. Quite the opposite, really.
The 23-year-old is coming off a breakout season, even if hamstring problems cut it short, and he’s become the kind of versatile wing every team wants. Sam Amick of The Athletic previously reported that Denver went into free agency planning to match any offer Watson received, payroll be damned.
There’s a clear reason for that. Watson has already shown he can help a team win, and with the Nuggets looking like they’ll run it back with basically the same group, keeping him fits the present tense. Nikola Jokić remains the centerpiece, and Watson’s value to that setup is obvious.
Still, there’s another side to it. If the Clippers eventually meet Denver’s price after the Leonard situation clears up, the Nuggets could talk themselves into taking the long view and banking the draft assets. That would bring future flexibility, including the kind of unprotected pick that carries real weight.
But it would also mean giving up a key piece of the Jokić era.
That’s the tug-of-war here: hold onto a proven young contributor now, or cash him in for a package that could help later. Denver knows what it has in Watson. It doesn’t know what those future picks would turn into.
For now, the whole thing may come down to what happens with Toronto and Los Angeles. And Denver is watching closely, because Watson’s future could be tied to it.
In Other News...
Nuggets Just Got Their Final Answer On The Jokic Backup Plan
Jonas Valanciunas next stop is now clear after a brief stretch of uncertainty following his release from Denver. The veteran center had been weighing his options after the Nuggets waived him, and the answer sends him away from the NBA for now and into a Zalgiris Kaunas roster that already features several players with league experience.
For Denver, it closes the book on a backup-center plan that never really got off the ground. Valanciunas was barely used in the first-round playoff series against Minnesota, and the Nuggets had reasons to move on financially as well, but the bigger question was always where he would land once he sorted through his choices. Now the franchise knows it will have to look elsewhere for frontcourt depth going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Nuggets May Be Running Out Of Time To Keep Peyton Watson
Peyton Watsons rise has put the Nuggets in a familiar but uncomfortable spot: a young player they value has become expensive enough to complicate the rest of the roster. Denver is trying to keep its books workable while navigating the hard edges of the salary cap, and that has pushed restricted free agency into a far more delicate conversation than simply matching an offer sheet.
Around the league, that has opened the door to sign-and-trade possibilities, with the Clippers emerging as a team to watch in the background. Nothing is finalized, but the fact that Denver is even weighing that route says plenty about how tight the squeeze has become and how little room there may be to simply bring Watson back on the terms he wants. [Read more 🡒]