One of the rumored suitors for restricted free agent Peyton Watson has been the Los Angeles Clippers. But they just made a curious move that could potentially be an insurance policy for a failed Watson sign-and-trade. Or perhaps they're setting themselves up for something completely different, but it's still a puzzling move.
ESPN's Shams Charania reports that the Clippers have signed the veteran wing Bradley Beal to a two-year deal to return to the team. What makes it an even more puzzling signing is that the Clippers now have 16 players on the roster, and that's before they attempt to re-sign their own restricted free agent Bennedict Mathurin. The maximum allowed is 15 once the season starts.
It's an interesting spot for the Clippers. They either have to waive a couple of players if they re-sign Mathurin and don't trade for Watson, or they'll be looking to add in a third team or more for any sign-and-trades to get Watson out of Denver and for those teams to take the extra players.
The Clippers have been a rumored suitor for a while
The Clippers have been one of the rumored suitors for P-Wat during nearly the entirety of the offseason. Obviously, we have no idea if this changes anything for the Clippers' pursuit of Watson or not. But it raises eyebrows because the Nuggets can't really help out the Clippers with taking players off their hands unless the Nuggets finish the sign-and-trade under the NBA's second apron penalty threshold, which they are currently over by a little over $2 million.
Even if the Clippers wanted to absorb Zeke Nnaji and trade the Nuggets' Kris Dunn, as has been rumored, they couldn't without a third team's help. The salary difference won't get the Nuggets under the second apron without another move.
Peyton Watson could feel the pressure to re-sign even more
If this move truly did take the Clippers out of the running, that leaves just the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers as the only other teams with rumored interest in Watson. That would logically put even further strain on Watson to make sure he gets his ducks in a row to figure out whether to sign for the decent offer the Nuggets have reportedly offered, or to sign the low-ball qualifying offer for a giant bet on himself.
The Nuggets reportedly offered Watson a four-year, $70 million extension with a team option in year four and a qualifying offer of $6.5 million that would gain Watson unrestricted free agency next summer. It's an $11 million difference next season that Watson would hope to make up down the road with a larger contract.
Hopefully, we get some insider information to help shed light on what the Clippers may now be thinking with Watson. Because this is a puzzling move.
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