Buying or Selling Latest Peyton Watson Rumors: Are the Hawks a Legit Suitor?

The Atlanta Hawks have had a quiet few weeks since completing most of their offseason work early on.

This was not unexpected, though some thought that after Atlanta went 20-6 after the All-Star Break and beat the Knicks twice in their first round playoff series, that Atlanta would try to go for it and become a contender. That was not realistic though and President of Basketball Operations Onsi Saleh noted several times that the Hawks were not about to skip steps in building their team.

But that does not mean that they are not going to be opportunistic and try to add to their team if it makes sense for their current timeline.

Over the past week or so, the Hawks have been connected to one of the top free agents available, Nuggets forward Peyton Watson, who is a restricted free agent, not an unrestricted free agent. Let's break down the latest rumors and decipher if the Hawks can actually pull off a trade for Watson.

The Hawks are interested in Peyton Watson- Buy

There is enough credible reporting out there connecting Atlanta to Watson and I think there is real interest there. Watson fits on their age timeline, is the kind of two-way wing that every team covets, and with the Nuggets not having re-signed him yet, there remains a chance that Atlanta could pull something off.

NBA insider Jake Fischer had this to say about Watson last week:

"Atlanta, sources say, has also shown some fresh interest in Watson, which would likewise require a sign-and-trade to make it happen.

That said, whether it's the Hawks or the Clippers or any other suitor, sources maintain that the Nuggets are seeking compensation on par with what Utah received from the Lakers in their recent sign-and-trade swap that made Walker Kessler a Laker."

Today, Tony Jones at The Athletic mentioned the Hawks as a suitor for Watson, while also noting that the Nuggets really value Watson and Milwaukee is another team to watch.

"The Milwaukee Bucks have emerged as a team potentially interested in executing a sign-and-trade for Watson, according to league sources who were granted anonymity so that they could describe ongoing deliberations. You can add them to a list of potential suitors that includes the LA Clippers, who are now in a holding pattern after their Kawhi Leonard trade with the Toronto Raptors was paused due to the NBA’s ongoing Aspiration investigation.

The Atlanta Hawks, who recently declined a team option on Jonathan Kuminga, are also interested in Watson, according to those sources."

The Hawks can actually obtain Watson- Sell

Just because the Hawks are interested in Watson does not mean that they are actually going to get him.

For starters, he is a restricted free agent. That makes the process to land him that much tougher. Second, the Hawks don't have cap space to put an offer sheet in front of him. Watson is reportedly looking for a contract in the $20-25 million annually range and that would add a lot of money to the books for Atlanta.

The only way that the Hawks could acquire Watson is by way of sign-and-trade. For that to happen, the Nuggets would have to agree to that and it would take a real offer for Denver to consider moving him and if they don't like the offer, they don't have to agree to send Watson to Atlanta.

Would the Hawks meet the massive asking price for Denver? I don't think the Hawks would give up a Walker Kessler type of offer for Watson, but I do think that they would consider sending one pick and perhaps a swap.

Denver is also a very expensive team and that makes dealing with them especially difficult. Atlanta may need to get a third team invovled to take on some of the bad contracts that they have, such as Buddy Hield and/or Corey Kispert. That might require the Hawks to add a draft pick to the deal to move off those players. If Denver is moving Watson, they may do so to clear money off their books and not want to take any back.

While it would be very complicated, the Hawks could offer Jonathan Kuminga in a double sign-and-trade, though that is a rare occurence.

The Hawks being interested in Watson is easy to buy. Watson actually becoming a member of the Hawks this offseason is easy to sell, but not impossible.

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