5 reasonable expectations for the 2024 Denver Nuggets offseason
By Ben Handler
4.) Every team-option will get exercised by the Nuggets
These should all be pretty simple decisions for the Nuggets, but the team has three team-options to decide on this summer. Two are part of rookie contracts, as the team has options to pick up for Christian Braun and Peyton Watson. Those are locks to get picked up by the Nuggets as those are two young players the team is counting on.
Braun was a key contributor on the title team as a rookie and solidified his role on the bench this season in year two. He’s the closest thing the team has to a young building block and they’ll keep him in Denver as long as possible.
Watson hasn’t been quite as successful, but he has shown a lot of promise and clearly has a lot of room to grow. The Nuggets are counting on Watson to keep improving and to carve out a major role on this team moving forward; he’s not going anywhere.
The other team-option is for veteran Vlatko Cancar. Vlatko got season-ending knee surgery and wasn’t able to contribute much this season, but he’s a solid shooter and as good a role player as the team could reasonably hope to get for the low price of his $2.35 million team option.
Although he’s out for the season. Vlatko Cancar is still an ultimate rotational piece for the nuggets. Provides off ball connecting tissue and floor spacing while being able to be a hub and pnr ball handler who can take on defensive responsibilities. This was his year to breakout pic.twitter.com/wfbe3TMcZq
— 🪼. (@juerter) January 18, 2024
That’s just a good use of funds and a low price to pay for the potential upside of Cancar as a 9th man next season. Shooting off the bench is always welcomed and this could be a cheap way to find it.