Ever since Peyton Watson broke out for the Nuggets around the middle of last season, it was widely assumed that keeping the young, athletic restricted free agent in Denver would be the Nuggets’ top priority once the offseason rolled around.
When Watson got hurt and missed the playoffs, a few doubts started to creep in, but it still made sense for the team to bring back the closest thing they had to a young, budding star, even if it meant moving on from other starters for financial reasons.
When the offseason started and the Nuggets appeared to be playing hardball with Watson, there were a few more doubts, but still, it largely looked like business as usual for the NBA’s convoluted restricted free agency process.
But things dragged on longer and longer; the Nuggets’ second-apron problem seemed no closer to a solution, there were no tangible talks of any trades involving other players, and there were no real reports of negotiations getting close between Watson and Denver. And then, the sign-and-trade was announced, and just like that, Watson was gone for a 2031 first-rounder.
Nuggets clearly never valued Watson as much as fans thought
Maybe we should have realized what was happening a lot sooner, but after a report from Bennett Durando in the Denver Post, it’s clear that the Nuggets just didn’t value Watson that badly. They offered him a four-year contract worth roughly $18 million per year and a team option. Watson’s team quickly refused, and the Nuggets never made a counteroffer.
And that should tell you all you need to know. The Nuggets never made a competitive offer. They never even upped their initial offer, which was borderline insulting. Beyond that, Durando reported that the team wasn’t interested in moving a pick to trade Cam Johnson, and that by the end of the process, P-Wat just wanted a change of scenery.
Given this information and after watching how things played out, it’s obvious that the Nuggets had soured on Watson after his injury and given his asking price. Watson wanted to get paid like a young star, and Denver’s brass wasn’t buying it. They played hardball from the jump and ultimately opted to keep their starting lineup intact and add a valuable future pick to be used in a later trade over paying Watson.
It’s a sad ending to Watson’s Denver career, but given the news, perhaps we should have seen the writing on the wall all along. Realistically, this was heading towards a breakup ever since the Nuggets chose Christian Braun over Watson last summer, and one great month clearly wasn’t enough to change that.
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