The Bucks had their eye on Peyton Watson all offseason, but Milwaukee’s refusal to pay the price ended up looking a lot easier to live with after his Cavaliers debut. Cleveland blew a 29-point lead, and Watson’s night didn’t do much to make the Bucks second-guess themselves. He scored 8 points on 2-of-7 shooting.
Milwaukee was never in position to chase that deal comfortably. Watson’s new contract runs 4 years and $88 million, and Denver wanted a first-round pick on top of that.
For a Bucks team dealing with salary cap problems tied to other players, that was a heavy lift. And with Milwaukee trying to rebuild, handing over picks for an expensive swing like that didn’t fit their approach.
That’s part of why the Bucks were willing to walk away. Watson has been more of a supporting piece than a centerpiece, including his time with the Nuggets, where he was best known as a 3-and-D forward. Milwaukee was looking for something different from a major offseason move: more creation, more shot-making, more ability to bend a defense and help set up teammates.
There were also reasons to wonder whether Watson would’ve been able to grow into that kind of role in Milwaukee anyway. He showed flashes when the Nuggets occasionally gave him more responsibility last season, but the Bucks couldn’t count on him to carry that usage over a full year.
In his first game with Cleveland, the ball-handling work didn’t produce much. The Cavaliers had a couple of costly turnovers on pick-and-rolls with Watson involved, and he ended up with 5 turnovers despite not being a primary ball handler.
If that’s how it looked with multiple other All-Stars around him, it’s fair to question how much tougher it might have been in Milwaukee. Opposing defenses would have had more reason to load up on him if he were a Buck. At the same time, the Bucks would have offered better spacing than Cleveland, since Milwaukee has more shooters in its starting lineup than the Cavs.
Watson should settle in as he gets more comfortable with his new team. For now, though, his debut didn’t create any regret for Milwaukee. The Bucks passed on a big trade for him, and after this game, that decision looks pretty easy to defend.
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The Bucks are still settling in after the blockbuster deal that sent Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to Miami and brought Herro and others back in return. Even so, the opener and the follow-up against Chicago suggested there is already enough balance here to keep defenses honest, with multiple players reaching double figures and Herro giving Bucks fans a quick reminder of why his arrival matters in a different kind of Milwaukee attack. [Read more 🡒]