Could the Nuggets lose Peyton Watson?
The Denver Nuggets made a big decision over the weekend, opting to match the offer sheet signed by Spencer Jones from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Denver will now pay Jones $6 million per year over the next two seasons, and an extra $32 million in luxury tax payments. They're also currently operating as a second apron team, the only second apron team in the league.
Denver still has other business matters to attend to as Peyton Watson remains a restricted free agent following his breakout season, where he averaged 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists while shooting 49% from the field and 41% from three in 54 games.
Can Denver Keep Watson?
They can still sign Watson to a contract or match any offer that might be presented to him.
According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, and Milwaukee Bucks are all pursuing Watson.
Because Denver is operating as a second apron team, they can't take back any players in a potential sign-and-trade for Watson, and none of those teams have the cap space to absorb Watson's new contract outright.
Denver has ways to get back under the second apron before proceeding with any deal for Watson, most notably trading Zeke Nnaji, who is set to make $7.6 million this season despite playing only 12 minutes per game last season.
Dumping Nnaji puts them back under the second apron and allows them to proceed with a potential sign-and-trade for Watson. They could also choose to keep Watson and deal with second apron repercussions later in the offseason.
Best Bet On Watson
The ideal scenario for Denver is to keep Watson and find a way to move off of Christian Braun's contract, which is for $25 million per season for the next five seasons. Denver doesn't want to hand Watson the same contract after one good season in fear of it coming back to bite them like Braun's contract might end up doing following his disappointing season.
They could work out a sign-and-trade for Watson and one of the three aforementioned teams, but may need to get a third team involved, and would still have to trade Braun or Cameron Johnson to get under the second apron or reduce their luxury tax bill.
The Hawks, Clippers, and Bucks all have intriguing roster options for Denver to look at, but they're going to run into the same money issue now that they've matched the offer for Jones.
