We knew that the Cleveland Cavaliers were going to be coming for Peyton Watson. Cavs insider Brian Windhorst said as much just the other day. And now, with a tweet from ESPN's Shams Charania, we finally have an ending to the Watson-Nuggets restricted free agent saga. But not the ending Denver Nuggets fans were hoping for. And definitely not the return Nuggets fans wanted, either.
BREAKING: Cleveland, Denver and the Clippers have agreed on a trade sending Peyton Watson to the Cavaliers, Max Strus to LA, and an unprotected 2031 Cavs first-round pick and a 2032 Kings second-rounder to the Nuggets, sources tell ESPN.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 19, 2026
Watson will sign a new four-year, $88… pic.twitter.com/hXqL3JvsU4
Watson gets $22 million per year, close to what he wanted. And the Nuggets? A 2031 unprotected first-round pick from the Cavs and a 2032 second-round pick from the Kings. At least the Nuggets got their first-round pick? Yikes. What a bad deal. What. A. Bad. Deal.
That first-round pick might not even be worth very much unless the Cavs start to stink. And the way they run their franchise, going for it...that's not likely. Ooooh, but the Nuggets got a second-rounder, too. Great! (heavy sarcasm)
The Nuggets are still over the second-apron threshold, and they're still going to have to make a move to get back under that line, because obviously, that's going to be their goal. The Kroenke's avoiding as many taxes as possible strikes again! Otherwise, the Nuggets could have just signed Watson for the four-year, $88 million he just got. The Kroenke's couldn't even truly go for it for one season!
The Nuggets mishandled this so poorly
Even worse, the Nuggets are probably going to be squeezed into using that second-round pick to dump more salary to get back under the second apron. And given the way the front office has handled trades and moves over the last few years, they're probably going to get squeezed into giving up that first-round pick to get off Zeke Nnaji's contract. In the spirit of Calvin Booth, they should just send out both! (sarcasm, again)
And it's not like this trade helps the Nuggets this season at all. Maybe, down the road, they'll get a player to replace Watson with that 2031 first-round pick. But not this season. When they really needed it.
In a year the Nuggets could see Jokic test the free agency waters, too
Even worse, worse! Not bringing back a key defender and downgrading the team even more than they already are this offseason isn't the best look when you have Nikola Jokic, the best basketball player in the world, potentially testing the free-agency waters next summer. Sure, Jokic's one of the few who I would take at his word, and that he'll extend with the Nuggets, but could you blame him if he tested the waters after this?
What's next? Trading 15? Trading the Joker before he gets a chance to opt out of his player option because the front office mismanaged the contracts they've handed out and the assets they had?
But, hey, at least the Nuggets held onto Spencer Jones!
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