The Denver Nuggets' pursuit of forward Peyton Watson was one of the most prevalent storylines following the team this past summer, but it was a pursuit that ultimately ended in a concession from the Nuggets in the form of a sign-and-trade instead. 

Despite the Nuggets apparently making signing Watson, who had a breakout season for Denver and averaged 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.9 steals per game in an elevated role caused by injuries to so many other Nuggets, their top priority, it became increasingly clear that their pursuit simply wasn't feasible. 

Watson had placed a huge spotlight on himself with the Nuggets last season and plenty of teams around the NBA took notice. Watson and his team took notice as well, and as his desired contract reportedly grew, so did the doubt that the Nuggets would be able to keep him. 

The Nuggets are already the only team currently past the second apron at this point, hampered by large contracts to their entire starting five, and signing Watson would have only made the situation worse. 

There also wasn't much of an effort to offer a compelling contract to Watson, as reports have indicated that the Nuggets never improved on their initial offer to Watson and soon pivoted to searching out sign-and-trade partners instead. 

That search eventually manifested in a five-team deal that, among other transactions, sent Watson to the Cleveland Cavaliers while the Nuggets received forward Julian Reese, who was quickly waived, a 2031 first-round pick from Cleveland and a 2032 second-round pick from the Sacramento Kings. 

Even if Watson is a player with one impactful season under his belt, the return the Nuggets received was still meager relative to the amount of emphasis they put on Watson during the offseason. During Nuggets Media Day, Denver executive vice president of basketball operations Ben Tenxer shed some light on Denver's thought process on the deal.

"We were comfortable with trading him if the price got to the point where we were excited about the return. And although we didn't get a player back, we got some very valuable draft capital," Tenzer said (via Mike Vorkunoc). 

The Nuggets are in a difficult place when it comes to the future, so comfort with their dealings comes in at a low bar.

With essentially no cap space available and large contracts in guard Christian Braun and forward Cameron Johnson that run the risk of becoming albatross', the Nuggets don't have any room to work with when it comes to adding new, expensive talent. 

So trading away Watson for two draft picks, only one of which is coming in the first round, may have been within Denver's comfort zone, the team doesn't have much say in what can't be considered in their comfort zone at this point.