The Denver Nuggets and restricted free agent Peyton Watson continue to remain far apart on a contract, giving the Los Angeles Lakers a golden opportunity to land the athletic forward via a possible sign-and-trade scenario.
According to The Athletic’s Tony Jones, the Nuggets have been unwilling to offer more than a five-year, $70M contract to Watson after they triggered the second apron by matching Oklahoma City Thunder’s offer sheet for Spencer Jones. As a result, the Nuggets now face a $68M tax penalty and severe roster-building constraints, opening the door for the franchise to offload some key pieces. Notably, the Nuggets could reportedly move Cameron Johnson or Christian Braun to offer Watson a larger deal.
Can Lakers Steal Peyton Watson?
“Denver is attempting to move a contract or two to get back under the second apron and clear enough money to retain Watson, the league sources said,” Jones reported on Monday, reiterating that Denver is prioritizing retaining Watson.
The report added that the Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks and Los Angeles Clippers are among the teams interested in landing Watson, but the Lakers were front in line at the start of the Los Angeles native’s restricted free agency process. No deal has materialized due to the Nuggets’ high asking price for the 23-year-old forward.
“Multiple teams have made sign-and-trade offers for Watson, but so far the Nuggets’ asking price has been high,” Jones wrote.
Peyton Watson, Nuggets in Tricky Spot
It was reported earlier that Watson was seeking at least $25M per season, in line with Christian Braun’s five-year, $125M extension last year. As such, Watson may choose to take the drastic step of accepting his $6.5M qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent next year, when the Lakers would have a better shot of landing him.
“League sources say Watson, like Detroit’s Jalen Duren, has been weighing the unappealing prospect of playing out the 2026-27 season on a qualifying offer with the intent to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Actually doing so, mind you, means leaving millions on the table,” insider Marc Stein reported on Sunday.
“In Watson’s case, specifically, that would mean playing next season for just $6.5 million,” he continued. “The Nuggets’ initial pitches were believed to be in the $70 million range over four years, which would be well shy of the $25 million in annual average value that Christian Braun received from Denver in a five-year, $125 million rookie scale extension last October. As The Stein Line has reported previously, Watson is hoping to exceed those figures this summer.”
In a hypothetical scenario, the Lakers could package Jarred Vanderbilt, Jaden Hardy and Jake LaRavia to the Nuggets in a sign-and-trade scenario to meet Watson’s asking price of $25M. However, the Nuggets are not said to be interested in those pieces.
Lakers Get Crucial Peyton Watson Update Amid Nuggets Financial Woes