Peyton Watson Opens Up About Offseason Negotiations With Nuggets

After spending the first four years of his NBA career with the Denver Nuggets, Peyton Watson is off to join the Cleveland Cavaliers. In Denver, Watson ultimately blossomed into a legitimate two-way difference-maker, especially coming off a breakout 2025-26 season, but was just exchanged for a 2031 first-round pick and a 2032 second-round pick.

It was no secret that the Nuggets wanted to keep Watson, but they were already above the second apron with a lucrative luxury tax bill before deciding what to do with the 23-year-old, and re-signing him would've only made their financial situation worse. Of course, Watson understands that, and it was simply a financial decision by the Nuggets to let him go.

In a recent appearance on Michael Porter Jr.'s Curious Mike podcast, Watson opened up about what those negotiations with Denver were like.

"It was a bittersweet feeling when the news finally came," Watson said. "I remember during the summer, just going through the ebbs and flows of negotiations and talks with the team and my agents and just understanding that we had gotten to a point where Denver was between a rock and a hard place financially. Everybody was aware of them facing the tax bill."

A tough RFA market

This has been a weird offseason for restricted free agents. We have already seen Watson, Walker Kessler, and Bennedict Mathurin all change teams this offseason in restricted free agency, with Jalen Duren still in harsh negotiations with the Detroit Pistons. Watson talked about how this summer's financial situation across the NBA has impacted the RFA market.

"Just kind of the way things shook out at the beginning with free agency, it was like a few teams had cap space, but then the cap just dried up super quick. A lot of teams were not willing to go through the war that restricted free agency is. You see, there's still some really good restricted free agents on the market. I'm lucky to have gotten a resolution with my situation as fast as I did. Like we talked about it, this could have stretched out all summer," he said.

Mar 22, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Peyton Watson (8) reacts in the first quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Ball Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It would've been very challenging for the Nuggets to bring back Watson given their financial state, unless they could find a deal to trade away one of their starters.

There was plenty of speculation about the Nuggets trading Cameron Johnson, Christian Braun, or even Aaron Gordon to clear up cap space and make it much easier for Denver to bring back Watson, but obviously, none of those talks came to fruition.

Will the Nuggets regret trading him?

In an ideal world, the Nuggets would've kept Watson. His two-way versatility was far too valuable for the Nuggets, and they will certainly feel his absence this season.

Sure, they replaced his offensive output by signing DeMar DeRozan, but his defense will be hard to replicate. Can EuroLeague Best Defender winner Alpha Diallo fill Watson's shoes defensively? Can Spencer Jones step up on his new contract? The Nuggets certainly have more question marks with Watson out of the lineup, but they should be confident with their starting lineup still intact.

There will likely be some regret in not getting a deal done with Watson, but there was only so much they could do without digging themselves into a financial hole that would be impossible to get out of.

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