The Denver Nuggets are looking good in their pursuit of retaining Peyton Watson in free agency. They're in the driver's seat to keep him for next year and beyond at the moment, because the market for Watson has largely dried up, and realistically, only one team is still showing a desire to land the once-coveted restricted free agent.
Without much competition and with only one team, the Los Angeles Clippers, still showing any signs of trying to wrestle Watson away from the Nuggets, it looks more and more likely that the Nuggets are going to be able to keep Watson on the low end of his expected salary range.
Jake Fischer and Marc Stein at The Stein Line (subscription required) report that the Clippers are the only team still showing interest in Watson.
"We're still being told that the Clippers are not ruling themselves out of the sign-and-trade chase for Denver's Peyton Watson even after signing Rui Hachimura to a two-year, $28 million deal," they said. "As of Tuesday morning it was difficult to pinpoint any other credible contenders."
Well, that's good news for the Nuggets. Watson's likely to get squeezed on an extension, keeping his salary down in a more manageable long-term range for the Nuggets. But that's probably in a range that fits what Watson has done.
Watson isn't a $25-30 million a year player
Watson has been rumored to be seeking a contract in the neighborhood of $25 million per year, on par with Christian Braun, who received a five-year, $125 million extension that goes into effect in 2026-27. The report was that the Nuggets and Watson's agent, Rich Paul, were not close on a number in negotiations. And they shouldn't be close if Watson is holding out for that kind of money.
There's a reason the Nuggets aren't fighting off other teams at that price. Watson had one scorching hot month in an injury-depleted, non-athletic, no-shot-creating lineup. Watson was head and shoulders above everyone but Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon while he was in the starting lineup for the month of January, but he kind of had to be without Nikola Jokic, Braun, and Cameron Johnson.
Outside of that, Watson was mostly pedestrian in his other months, like December, when he made 12 starts and averaged 12.8 points and shot 35.1% from three. He did play good defense, leading the starting unit that month with 0.9 blocks per game. But we only saw Watson play five games post-All-Star break, and never got a chance to see if he could sustain his hot January when Jokic came back.
$30 million can get a team an All-NBA star
Sure, he's exceeding his contract, but look at Jalen Johnson and what the Atlanta Hawks are getting for $30 million per year over the next four years. Johnson's a rapidly rising star, an All-Star, and he's a triple-double threat every night, just like Jokic, and Johnson just made his first All-NBA Third team.
The Nuggets may have made a big overpay with Braun, but it looks like they're going to be sitting pretty with the number they can retain Watson at, thanks to the market for him going dry.
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