Peyton Watson came into the season without a contract extension. The Nuggets instead chose to extend Christian Braun and deal with P-Wat's extension after the current season ended.
Seemed like a good idea at the time, but Watson's been playing superb basketball all year. He's showcasing "elite" level abilities and a missing art that only the great scorers possess. That's going to get Watson a big payday when he hits restricted free agency this summer, and it's going to leave the cash-strapped and second-apron tax adjacent Nuggets in an uncomfortable spot.
Those were just some of the superlatives Draymond Green lobbed Watson's way on the latest edition of his podcast, "The Draymond Green Show." He also said Watson was going to become "an All-Star caliber player," and "he ain't even scratched the surface yet. Peyton Watson is going to be an elite NBA player."
Elite NBA Players get paid, and the Nuggets are going to be on a collision course with a reality this summer that they need to be prepared for.
The Nuggets don't have any cap space available next year
The Nuggets are already going to be over the salary cap in 2026-27, and they're going to be over the luxury tax without even re-signing Watson. In fact, the Nuggets are only about $4 million under the second-apron tax, and that's for only 11 players under contract for next year, including the team option for Jalen Pickett and the minimum for the Nuggets' 2026 first-round draft pick.
P-Wat's obviously going to get something north of $20 million per year starting next year, so the Nuggets are in a tricky spot. They are already looking at a $54 million luxury tax payment. Watson would just add so much more on top of that.
Clearly, the Nuggets are going to have to get creative to free up space for Watson. Either a trade of Braun, who's owed $21.5 million, Cam Johnson, who's owed $23 million, or Jonas Valanciunas, who's owed $10 million next year, will likely need to happen to bring Watson back. Or some other genius way the front office cooks up to save money.
Watson's game exploded this year
Green said when he saw Watson pull up for a mid-range jumper and drain it on a fast break, when Green was near the hoop, that Watson was on another level. He said the mid-range jumper is a missing art, and "everyone stopped working on it except for the elite scorers."
Green was impressed with the basketball I.Q. Watson displayed on the play, calling it a "very, very understated, but a very big advantage."
Tack on the career year in points, rebounds, and assists, plus a Player of the Week Award in January, and Watson has all the makings to get paid. And that presents a difficult conundrum for the Nuggets this summer.