The fallout from Nikola Jokic’s left knee injury has the potential to be massive. One possible ramification, though, is flying under the radar: The Denver Nuggets could trade Peyton Watson before the three-time MVP ever returns.
Jokic is slated to miss at least the next four weeks with his hyperextended left knee. If he returns exactly after 28 days, he’ll take the court again a little more than a week before the February trade deadline.
But this is a big if.
Denver’s update on Jokic’s status says he will be re-evaluated in four weeks. “Re-evaluated” does not automatically equate to a return to play. Jokic is superhuman, so it might. But it typically refers to when the next update will be released. There is a chance—a real chance—we won’t see Jokic play again until after the All-Star break, let alone before the trade deadline.
Peyton Watson’s name will inevitably circulate in Nuggets trade talks
Watson was always going to enter the rumor mill at some point. Jokic’s injury may simply wind up accelerating speculation, if Denver decides it must prowl the market for frontcourt help.
Even if the Nuggets don’t go searching for another big, Watson’s contract situation looms large. He is headed for restricted free agency over the summer. With Denver right up against the second apron next year before paying him, there’s no guarantee he stays put.
Sure, the Nuggets could decide to let Watson’s future play out over the offseason rather than move him for value beforehand. Restricted free agency is inherently team-friendly. Just look at this past summer. Names like Jonathan Kuminga, Quentin Grimes and Cam Thomas couldn’t drum up markets for their services.
Still, Denver can’t necessarily bank on the same happening to Watson. For starters, more teams are projected to have flexibility in 2026 than last summer. Watson also carries more mystique than anyone just mentioned. Six-foot-eight-inch combo wings who can guard on the perimeter, break up plays around the basket and have flashed on-ball skills and three-point touch don’t grow on trees.
The Nuggets shouldn’t let that player get away in a vacuum. Teams do not exist in vacuums, though. They already paid Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon. Watson could become collateral damage of rising finances.
It’d be one thing if he were a high-volume sniper from deep or a reserve floor general. But he’s not. And if Denver has any inkling he’ll price himself out of town, he’ll hit the trade block before February 5.
The Nuggets have some things to figure out
Watson’s future on the Nuggets is not totally kaput. They will have some wiggle room beneath the second apron if Jonas Valanciunas’ $10 million non-guaranteed salary is wiped from the ledger.
Even then, though, Denver will need to find a replacement big behind Jokic. It also won’t have a full roster. The $12 to $13 million in room beneath the second apron it might have without Valanciunas could be more than nuked by paying Watson alone. That doesn’t account for filling out the rest of the roster.
The Nuggets were always speeding towards this dilemma. They just weren’t supposed to be working through it under these circumstances. And yet, here they are.
If they decide Watson won’t be part of the bigger picture, then there’s a not-insignificant chance he and Jokic have already played their final game together.