It’s clear as day what’s going on with the Nuggets and Peyton Watson. Everyone understands the stalemate that remains thanks to Denver’s second apron issue and the realities of the NBA’s current restricted free agency situation. It’s not great for anyone, but both sides get the business, and hopefully this can still work out for everyone.
There’s certainly a world where the Nuggets are able to bring Watson back on a long-term deal, cementing him as a central young piece of the core, but they also need to be careful not to overpay, a mistake they made a year ago with Christian Braun that’s currently haunting these negotiations.
Frankly, that was an error that they can’t undo, and they’re going to have to convince Watson that he just isn’t going to get the five-year, $125 million extension they handed CB last summer. But what the Nuggets can’t do is upset Watson and his representation to the point where he feels disrespected and the relationship is ruined beyond repair.
Low-balling Watson is a bold choice
And that’s the risk that Denver is running by offering him the five-year, $70 million deal that was reported by Tony Jones of The Athletic. That’s a $14 million average annual value that’s below mid-level exception money. The $30 million a year figures we were hearing rumored may have been ambitious, but this offer is just a slap in the face to P-Wat.
Sure, Denver has the leverage right now, but they still want to keep Watson happy and engaged. If they make him mad enough, he can still sign the qualifying offer and leave as an unrestricted free agent next offseason. He could also sign a short-term contract and ask to be traded, Ã la Jonathan Kuminga.
It really doesn’t take much for these situations to turn ugly, and if the Nuggets truly view Watson as a budding young star to help uplift the core and keep them in title contention, then why are they risking going down this road? Again, I’m not saying they should concede and give him whatever he wants, but they also should want him to be excited to be a Denver Nugget.
Right now, it certainly doesn’t seem like he’s feeling that excitement, and offers like 5/$70m surely aren’t going to help. Hopefully, this is just posturing and a bit of silliness to kick off negotiations, and these two sides can get down to business and reach an agreement that the team, Watson, and Nuggets fans can all be excited about.
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