The Peyton Watson saga is finally over, with the Denver Nuggets sending the 23-year-old forward to the Cleveland Cavaliers in what has become a massive five-team deal. While there are a lot of moving pieces here, there isn’t a whole lot of value headed Denver’s way.
The Nuggets only got the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2031 first-round pick, the Washington Wizards’ 2032 second-round pick, and Julian Reese (whom they will waive) for Watson, and NBA fans ripped them for it on X.
“Awful return for Denver. Just straight up terrible,” NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor believes this was a pretty bad return.
“Nuggets have gotten worse every year since they won the title. No end in sight either,” one fan thinks the Nuggets have been getting worse year after year since winning the title in 2023.
“What’s wrong with the Nuggets front office? You can’t have a player like Jokic and make the kind of moves they’ve been making since they won the championship,” a fan was critical of the Nuggets’ front office for this talent drain when they have Nikola Jokic.
“Denver made a huge mistake getting rid of this talented player. Cavs will love him,” one thinks letting Watson go will prove to be a big mistake.
“I feel like Denver doesn’t get talked enough for having such a dogs*** FO. MPJ had a bad contract before he left. Now PWat leaving is the cause of an unearned $125 million contract for Braun,” another ripped the Nuggets’ front office for making one bad decision after another.
“Jokic is going to probably end up leaving like Giannis left the Bucks at the rate that Denver’s front office is going,” a fan thinks that at this rate, Jokic might head out of town.
Now, Nikola Jokic has made it clear repeatedly that he wants to spend the rest of his career with the Nuggets. By all indications, Jokic plans to become a free agent in 2027 and sign a massive five-year, $359.5 million deal to stay with the team. The three-time MVP can’t have been too pleased about this trade, though, and you wonder whether he will think about going elsewhere. Time will tell.
As for this trade, here is what it looks like.
Cleveland Cavaliers Receive: Peyton Watson, Cam Whitmore
Denver Nuggets Receive: 2031 first-round pick (CLE), 2032 second-round pick (SAC), Julian Reese
Los Angeles Clippers Receive: Max Strus
Washington Wizards Receive: Tre Mann, 2027 second-round pick (LAC, via CLE), cash (CLE)
Charlotte Hornets: Dennis Schroder, cash (CLE)
Watson is heading to the Cavaliers via sign-and-trade. They are giving him a four-year, $88 million deal with a player option and a trade kicker.
Now, why didn’t the Nuggets give Watson, who was a restricted free agent, a deal worth $22 million a year? Well, that would take their luxury tax bill from about $68 million to over $220 million. That, in turn, would mean they’d be looking at paying nearly $500 million in salaries and luxury tax penalties next season. That’s not something they were interested in doing.
Also, if you’re wondering why the Nuggets didn’t get any player in this deal, it was because they weren’t allowed to. It’s just another penalty that comes with being a second apron team. They are the only second apron team in the NBA at the moment and will be looking to shed salary to get under.
The Nuggets will also reportedly focus on DeMar DeRozan now, but he isn’t moving the needle. They need quality defenders, like Watson. He had also shown offensive upside last season and finished the campaign with averages of 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.9 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. Losing a player like this is a big blow.
Watson probably would have remained a Nugget had they not given Christian Braun that massive five-year, $125 million deal in 2025, as one fan mentioned. They likely didn’t anticipate Watson taking that leap and commanding offers worth over $20 million a year. They had put a four-year, $70 million offer on the table, but it wasn’t enough.
The Nuggets were viewed as major title contenders in each of the last four seasons, but now, after losing Watson, that’s no longer the case.
