The Clippers want to add Peyton Watson without giving up Bennedict Mathurin, and money left over from the Rui Hachimura deal could make it happen.
The Los Angeles Clippers spent this offseason tearing apart the roster that finished 42-40 and missed the playoffs to start over.
Kawhi Leonard is now a Toronto Raptor, John Collins signed with the Detroit Pistons, and the front office used the return from those moves to build around Darius Garland and rookie guard Keaton Wagler instead.
That rebuild took another step last week when the Clippers agreed to a two-year deal with Rui Hachimura, but that signing was not the last word on their summer.
The more interesting story is what the front office does next with two restricted free agents still sitting on the board.
Two Free Agents
ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk spelled out the Clippers' plan last week.
"The Clippers have interest in Denver's Peyton Watson, who is a restricted free agent," Youngmisuk wrote. "The Nuggets can match any offer sheet and want to keep Watson but could always opt for a sign-and-trade. The Clippers also want to keep their own restricted free agent Bennedict Mathurin, whom they acquired in the Zubac trade."
That second part is the piece a lot of people glossed over.
Mathurin came over from Indiana in February along with Isaiah Jackson and a couple of draft picks, and between his stops with both teams last season he averaged 17.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists, exactly the scoring punch a rebuilding roster does not want to lose for nothing.
Watson is a tougher case, someone who set career highs in points, rebounds and assists for a Denver team that finished 54-28 before a first round exit against Minnesota, and even though a hamstring injury ended his own season early, the Nuggets have said plainly they intend to match any offer he receives.
Where the Money Comes From
Here is why the Hachimura signing does not close the door on either move.
Los Angeles paid for a two-year, $28 million deal with its mid-level exception instead of dipping into cap space, a detail that gets buried in the transaction news, even though it explains most of what the Clippers can still do this summer.
That leaves the Clippers with cap room, a bi-annual exception, and full Bird rights on Mathurin, tools that can be stacked together rather than used one at a time.
Bird rights let them go over the cap to re-sign Mathurin without touching the money set aside for Watson, and the belief around the league is that Los Angeles is not done chasing Watson.
A sign-and-trade remains the most realistic path to landing him since Denver is unlikely to let him leave for nothing, but the Clippers have the draft capital and expiring salary to make a deal like that work.
Land both, and Los Angeles opens next season with Garland, Wagler, Watson, and Mathurin all in the rotation, a completely different outlook than the one that ended in a play-in loss back in April.
