Nuggets Might've Made an Under-the-Radar Mistake in Peyton Watson Trade

The Denver Nuggets made their big splash of the 2026 offseason this week by sending Peyton Watson to the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of a multi-team deal, which netted them an unprotected 2031 first-round pick and a 2032 second-round pick.

Of course, this move was not well received by the Nuggets' fanbase, with most wanting the franchise to keep Watson and the others wanting them to get a much better return in a sign-and-trade. There is even another aspect of this trade that not enough people are talking about, and it is just another example of poor roster management by this Nuggets franchise.

As part of the five-team trade, the Nuggets received two-way big man Julian Reese from the Washington Wizards. However, the Nuggets waived Reese immediately, not even giving the 23-year-old a chance.

We have acquired a 2031 unprotected first round draft pick, a 2032 second round draft pick (via Sacramento) from Cleveland and two-way forward Julian Reese from Washington in a five-team trade that sends forward Peyton Watson to Cleveland pic.twitter.com/W9maKuh5Mr
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) August 21, 2026

Reese, the younger brother of WNBA All-Star Angel Reese, made a surprising impact in his rookie season in Washington, averaging 11.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.4 steals in 13 appearances. Sure, he did not get as much opportunity as he proved he deserved, but in his limited time, he made a significant impact.

Why the Nuggets should've given Reese a chance

As it stands, the Nuggets have just one of their three two-way slots filled by 24-year-old guard KJ Simpson. While second-round rookie Bryce Hopkins is expected to fill one of the two open slots, even though it is very strange that he remains unsigned to this point, there is reason to believe that Reese deserved the other open spot.

Despite going undrafted, Reese proved to be arguably the best rebounding rookie in the NBA. In just his third career game, he dropped 18 points and 20 rebounds (10 offensive), while shooting 5-7 from the field.

Julian Reese has the most rebounds by a player in their first 10 career games this century. pic.twitter.com/vJEkGLXqCy
— Real App (@realapp) April 8, 2026

In his sixth career game, he dropped 26 points and 17 rebounds on 12-16 shooting from the field. With another similar performance toward the end of the season, he became the only rookie in the NBA to record multiple games with 15+ points and 15+ rebounds (doing so FOUR times), despite appearing in just 13 contests.

Sure, he was likely the best rebounding rookie last season, but he also proved to be one of the best rebounding rookies of all time. If he were given consistent minutes throughout the season, rather than waiting to make his NBA debut until March, he could have shattered some rookie records.

There is still a chance that the Nuggets realize their mistake and bring Reese into training camp to compete for a two-way contract, but that ship might have already sailed. Now that Reese is on the open market, teams will likely be quick to scoop him up.

By trading Watson and waiving Reese, the Nuggets still have four roster spots to fill—two standard and two two-way—with just over a month until training camp starts. It certainly would have been worth it for the Nuggets to take a flyer on Reese, given their current situation, but hopefully they can find another promising young gem.

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