The Bucks were one of the teams interested in Peyton Watson this offseason, but as Bennett Durando of The Denver Post reported on Tuesday, they never made a formal offer (subscription required) to the Denver Nuggets. If they had, and included Jaime Jaquez Jr. in the deal, it seems like there's a chance that P-Wat could be calling Wisconsin home over Ohio.
Sixth Man of the Year runner-up Jaime Jaquez was floated in preliminary talks with Milwaukee, but those conversations were entirely conceptual — the Bucks never made an official sign-and-trade offer, league sources said. Denver would’ve been intrigued by the possibility of adding him if an offer had materialized.
Milwaukee might've been willing to discuss sending Jaquez at first, but ultimately chose not to make him available. The 25-year-old joined the Bucks this summer as part of the Giannis Antetokounmpo deal, and he could be a starter on opening night, with the team not getting any of the forwards they were linked to this offseason, including Jonathan Kuminga.
Having Jaquez come off the bench would've boosted Denver's depth and made Watson's loss sting a lot less, as he's a pretty solid replacement. The issue, though, is that he's entering the final year of his contract, meaning that he's slated to become a restricted free agent next summer.
Still, it's worth wondering whether the Nuggets would've moved forward with a trade with the Bucks if Jaquez had been on the table, given that he's a young rotational player who can step in and contribute to a team still very much in win-now mode.
Nuggets were 'intrigued' by Jaime Jaquez Jr.
Jaquez, the No. 18 pick in the 2023 draft, averaged a career-high 15.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in 28.3 minutes across 75 games this past season in Miami, shooting 50.7% from the field. As a result, he finished second in NBA Sixth Man of the Year voting.
In the three seasons he spent with the Heat, he was never a primary starter, as his 20 starts in 75 games as a rookie marked his most starts in a single season. Jaquez could've strengthened his 6MOY case for 2026-27 in Denver, contributing to a contender, but it's probably best for his future for him to get a starting role in Milwaukee, which should be what happens.
It would've been nice to have Jaquez in Denver, though. He's not a plus defender or a three-point shooter (he shot 31.7% on 2.4 attempts per game last season), but he's physical and attacks downhill. As his career-high of 4.7 assists per contest last year shows, he's a good passer for his size, a skill he could've tapped into even more by learning from Nikola Jokić.
His contract status could've set the Nuggets up for another headache next summer, but that should've been a risk Denver was willing to take (especially if it meant getting rid of Zeke Nnaji's contract in the process). Milwaukee didn't want to risk losing Jaquez, not even for Watson, without first seeing what he could provide to a Bucks team headed in a new direction.
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