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The latest chapter of the Denver Nuggets' restricted free agent standoff with Peyton Watson is a juicy one.
On Tuesday, ESPN's Shams Charania shared that the Nuggets' asking price for a Watson sign-and-trade, should the two parties not agree to an extension, has been reduced. Denver will now take one really good high-level player and a first-round draft pick after initially asking for two first-round picks and two pick swaps, ala the recent Walker Kessler trade return for the Utah Jazz.
That reduced price seems ... oddly specific, no? Almost like the Nuggets have a particular player in mind that they want in return for Watson? That's my educated guess. Given the apparent strategic leak of information like this through Charania, it almost seems as if the Nuggets are talking to one team interested in Watson and one team only. That team would, of course, be the Milwaukee Bucks, who Jake Fischer reports are the "most likely external suitor" (you know, outside of Denver) to make an earnest run at Watson.
Stay with me here, dearest readers. Some might (understandably) say the Nuggets' biggest issue in not being able to win another NBA title since 2023 is a lack of consistent, difference-making defense. But that is reductive and does not consider how the Nuggets are built to win. As it stands, the overwhelming lion's share of creation and ball-handling runs through Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray. That is not surprising, nor is it novel, for an NBA team's two best players to be responsible for the offense.
The issue for the Nuggets, which is, to me, their actual biggest issue, is that they have no one who can reliably handle the ball and run the offense when better defensive teams overindex their game plan on Jokić and Murray. Swarm the NBA's top duo, and Denver has no reliable rebuttal. The best part of the Nuggets as a team, their offense, craters, and the defense suffers as a result, too.
Enter Bucks point guard Ryan Rollins, a 3-point shooting stepback machine who can assuredly dribble against full-court pressure while also putting pressure on the rim. Rollins averaged over 17 points per game in his first year in the NBA with an extended role last season and, oh, he's still only 24, with presumably more room to grow. If there's anyone the Nuggets would OK a Watson sign-and-trade for, it's undoubtedly Rollins, who would likely nullify Denver's most glaring roster flaw.
It likely would take this kind of player, overall, for the Nuggets to truly consider parting ways with Watson instead of continuing to negotiate and wait his situation out.
Of course, that's only the Nuggets' likely asking price. The other team still has to want to meet that asking price! The elephant in the room here is that the Bucks are probably reluctant to let Rollins go. Their vision in acquiring Watson for a new roster without Giannis Antetokounmpo in the fold would likely be centered around having Watson and Rollins play together, not one or the other.
But those are the terms that the Nuggets are almost certainly setting through Charania. Give them the quality third ball-handler they want, or go back to the drawing board. We'll have to see whether the Bucks budge or find another creative way to try and convince the Nuggets to play ball over Watson.
October 1st, 2026 is the last day a restricted free agent has to sign a new contract or accept the standard qualifying offer for a single season that would allow them to become an unrestricted free agent in the following season, but it comes with tremendous short-term risk given possible injuries.
Until further notice, that is the timeline the Nuggets and Watson are operating on.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The Nuggets' reduced price for Peyton Watson sign-and-trade telegraphs the 1 player they want
Continue reading...
On Tuesday, ESPN's Shams Charania shared that the Nuggets' asking price for a Watson sign-and-trade, should the two parties not agree to an extension, has been reduced. Denver will now take one really good high-level player and a first-round draft pick after initially asking for two first-round picks and two pick swaps, ala the recent Walker Kessler trade return for the Utah Jazz.
That reduced price seems ... oddly specific, no? Almost like the Nuggets have a particular player in mind that they want in return for Watson? That's my educated guess. Given the apparent strategic leak of information like this through Charania, it almost seems as if the Nuggets are talking to one team interested in Watson and one team only. That team would, of course, be the Milwaukee Bucks, who Jake Fischer reports are the "most likely external suitor" (you know, outside of Denver) to make an earnest run at Watson.
Stay with me here, dearest readers. Some might (understandably) say the Nuggets' biggest issue in not being able to win another NBA title since 2023 is a lack of consistent, difference-making defense. But that is reductive and does not consider how the Nuggets are built to win. As it stands, the overwhelming lion's share of creation and ball-handling runs through Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray. That is not surprising, nor is it novel, for an NBA team's two best players to be responsible for the offense.
The issue for the Nuggets, which is, to me, their actual biggest issue, is that they have no one who can reliably handle the ball and run the offense when better defensive teams overindex their game plan on Jokić and Murray. Swarm the NBA's top duo, and Denver has no reliable rebuttal. The best part of the Nuggets as a team, their offense, craters, and the defense suffers as a result, too.
Enter Bucks point guard Ryan Rollins, a 3-point shooting stepback machine who can assuredly dribble against full-court pressure while also putting pressure on the rim. Rollins averaged over 17 points per game in his first year in the NBA with an extended role last season and, oh, he's still only 24, with presumably more room to grow. If there's anyone the Nuggets would OK a Watson sign-and-trade for, it's undoubtedly Rollins, who would likely nullify Denver's most glaring roster flaw.
It likely would take this kind of player, overall, for the Nuggets to truly consider parting ways with Watson instead of continuing to negotiate and wait his situation out.
Of course, that's only the Nuggets' likely asking price. The other team still has to want to meet that asking price! The elephant in the room here is that the Bucks are probably reluctant to let Rollins go. Their vision in acquiring Watson for a new roster without Giannis Antetokounmpo in the fold would likely be centered around having Watson and Rollins play together, not one or the other.
But those are the terms that the Nuggets are almost certainly setting through Charania. Give them the quality third ball-handler they want, or go back to the drawing board. We'll have to see whether the Bucks budge or find another creative way to try and convince the Nuggets to play ball over Watson.
What is the Nuggets' deadline to sign Watson?
October 1st, 2026 is the last day a restricted free agent has to sign a new contract or accept the standard qualifying offer for a single season that would allow them to become an unrestricted free agent in the following season, but it comes with tremendous short-term risk given possible injuries.
Until further notice, that is the timeline the Nuggets and Watson are operating on.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The Nuggets' reduced price for Peyton Watson sign-and-trade telegraphs the 1 player they want
Continue reading...
