Why Nuggets Are Excited About Trade Return From Peyton Watson Deal

This offseason, one of the situations many teams around the league monitored was the Denver Nuggets’ negotiations with restricted free agent Peyton Watson. 

Watson had been coming off a breakout year where he was out in more of an expanded role, and he finished the season averaging over 14 points. He looked like he could be one of the long-term pieces for the Nuggets, but he was eventually traded away this summer. 

The Nuggets traded away Peyton Watson to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for an unprotected 2031 first-round pick. It was also part of a three-team trade that sent Max Strus from the Cavaliers to the Los Angeles Clippers. 

Peyton Watson was looking to get a long-term deal done with the Nuggets this offseason, but with the franchise’s salary cap issues and the number of veterans they have on bigger contracts, they could not come to an agreement. 

To replace Watson, the Nuggets added free agent small forward DeMar DeRozan, who, at 37, is coming off a season in which he was the Sacramento Kings’ leading scorer at 18.4 points per game. He was signed to a veteran minimum deal, saving the franchise money. 

Another deal the Nuggets worked out was Spencer Jones’ two-year, $11.75 million fully guaranteed contract. Jones is also a younger player, and at just 25 years old, he could be that next piece that takes a leap like Watson did last season. 

While not having a player like Watson at your disposal is a negative if you’re Denver, the positive thing is that they have a 2031 first-round pick that they can shop around. 

According to The Denver Post, the Nuggets felt that the first-round pick was more valuable than any player they could have gotten in exchange for Watson. The front office sees this pick as a valuable trade piece that will likely be traded before 2031. 

The reality for the Nuggets is that their roster is on the older side and has been looking to compete for a championship throughout the entire decade. Eventually, they will need to get younger, but until then, this pick can be used to add another talented player via trade. 

The Nuggets have tried to navigate their salary cap situation as best they can up to this point, and it will be interesting to see if they make any moves in the middle of next season to bolster their roster.