Nuggets Now Safe From Lakers' Potential Peyton Watson Pursuit

Don't worry, Peyton Watson won't be making his way to the Los Angeles Lakers any time soon.

Mar 27, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Peyton Watson (8) after making a basket during the second half against the Utah Jazz at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Heading into this year's free agency, the Denver Nuggets have had a few threats to keep an eye on when it comes to their restricted free agent forward, Peyton Watson.

Without being able to strike a deal on a new contract before free agency got rolling, it's led to Watson now hitting the open market with the ability to look for offer sheets elsewhere. And there's a chance that the right offer sheet, if steep enough, could scare the Nuggets away from matching.

One of those premier threats on the market that had the money to make that happen was the Los Angeles Lakers.

After the news dropped surrounding LeBron James deciding to enter free agency and not return to Los Angeles, it meant that the Lakers were going to enter the open market with over $50 million in free money to spend. That, of course, presented enough flexibility for them to approach Watson with a lucrative offer, if they indeed had interest in bringing him onboard.

But as of Wednesday, that flexibility that they once had is now gone.

Lakers' Ability to Poach Peyton Watson From Nuggets Is No More

Within about a 30-minute span, the Lakers' wave of free agent moves all came in at once, both in the form of multiple signings and a sign-and-trade with the Utah Jazz for Walker Kessler. And in doing so, it now saps up essentially all of the cap flexibility that they once had to go after a guy like Watson.

The Lakers paid Kessler a lucrative four-year deal worth $160 million, a four-year, $60 million contract for Quentin Grimes, spent $19 million on two years of Collin Sexton, and $52 million over four years for Sandro Mamukelashvili.

When sorting through the AAV of all four of those contracts, that's a total of $70 million––which likely comes out a bit differently depending on whether or not they're front or back-loaded, but does tend to fill out most of their roster with all of the monetary flexibility they previously had.

From a Nuggets' perspective, that's great news. Their biggest threat, who had the money to make a competitive offer for Watson, and had (and still does have) a need for a two-way wing like him, is now gone in an instant.

That means the chances of Denver simply re-upping with their restricted free agent with a new deal rather than having to go the route of matching an offer sheet increase exponentially.

Apr 10, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson (8) reacts after his dunk in the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Denver's other two big threats with cap space–– the Brookyn Nets and Chicago Bulls–– have also spent their money in different ways across the last several hours of free agency as well. The Nets have used theirs on Keon Ellis and Mo Wagner, while the Bulls spent big on a $45 million deal for Norman Powell.

Now, the Nuggets still do have to come to an agreement for Watson in the days ahead. How much money he gets on his next deal, and when that might come, is still up in the air.

Regardless, their top threats, and most importantly, the Los Angeles Lakers, are now off the board, thus making the road for a new deal to soon be on the way for Denver much easier to imagine.

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