The Nuggets have always wanted Peyton Watson to be incredibly valuable, except, perhaps, right at this very moment, as they are about to battle to keep him in restricted free agency. They underestimated his value last season (to be fair, he hadn’t proven it, but it was still a bad bet), and now they are going to pay for it (pun intended).
And on the verge of what could be a furious and hostile summer that could end in a number of ways for Watson and the Nuggets, the young wing received some high praise from The Ringer, appearing as the 76th-ranked player in their NBA top 100 list that came out on Tuesday.
The list was determined monthly by a panel of Bill Simmons, Rob Mahoney, Danny Chau, Zach Lowe, Kirk Goldsberry, Michael Pina, and Justin Verrier, and they determined that, where things stand right now, Watson is the 76th best player in the league. That’s great news for Denver, but it means that everyone is onto his value, and this is exactly why there will be some stiff competition to keep him this offseason.
The cat is out of the bag with Peyton Watson
He hasn’t exactly proven it over a giant sample size, but Watson had a strong season overall, and when guys were out with injuries and he had to take on a bigger role offensively, he looked incredible. Whether he could sustain that or not once he’s on the opponent’s radar every night is a different question, but apparently not for The Ringer.
They ranked him ahead of players like Naz Reid, Dyson Daniels, Ayo Dosunmu, Onyeka Okongwu, Donovan Clingan, Jalen Suggs, playoff hero CJ McCollum, and his own teammate Cameron Johnson. It’s not the craziest thing in the world, and many Nuggets fans may readily agree (at least with most of them), but most of those guys are highly paid, or will be once they can be.
It’s cool for Nuggets fans to see Watson get this much love from a national syndicate, but it’s also a harrowing reminder of how he’s perceived around the league. By all accounts, it sounds like Denver is going to do everything it can to keep Watson, and they do have the right to match any deal. But nobody projects them to spend into the second apron, and if a team comes in with an offer north of $25 million a year, this is going to get incredibly uncomfortable.
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