The Denver Nuggets are asking for a Walker Kessler price in a Peyton Watson sign-and-trade. Nobody is paying it. And that might be exactly how the Denver Nuggets designed this to play out.<\/p>\n
Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported Friday<\/a> that the Nuggets\u2019 sign-and-trade asking price for Watson has been \u201ctoo steep for the Clippers to deeply consider.\u201d As a result, Fischer reported, there is \u201can increasing possibility\u201d that the Clippers pivot to re-signing their own restricted free agent, Bennedict Mathurin. The Atlanta Hawks, Fischer added, have shown \u201cfresh interest\u201d in Watson, but that would also require a sign-and-trade to work.<\/p>\n The price Denver is asking? Fischer reported that \u201csources 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.\u201d<\/p>\n That return, completed last week, was two unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 and two first-round swaps in 2028 and 2030 \u2014 in exchange; the Lakers got a 7-foot-2 center who signed a four-year, $130 million deal.<\/p>\n For Watson \u2014 a 23-year-old wing coming off a breakout season interrupted by a recurring hamstring injury and with 303 career playoff minutes \u2014 that is an enormous ask for a team to take on, and the Nuggets almost certainly know it.<\/p>\n Fischer reported earlier this week that The Athletic\u2019s Sam Amick relayed Denver plans to match any offer sheet Watson receives while simultaneously staying open to sign-and-trade scenarios. In other words, it seems the Nuggets want Watson or something significant for him.<\/p>\n So what\u2019s actually happening here?<\/p>\n The three teams that were going to<\/a> \u201ccause angst in the Rocky Mountains\u201d \u2014 the Lakers, Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets<\/a>, per earlier reporting before free agency opened from Fischer and Marc Stein \u2014 have all spent their cap space. That means the most likely remaining path to Watson for any outside team runs through a sign-and-trade with Denver.<\/p>\n If teams wanted Watson badly enough and could simply sign him to an offer sheet, they would have done it by now. They haven\u2019t, because they can\u2019t \u2014 the cap-space teams are tapped out or are uninterested. Meanwhile, in a sign-and-trade deal, the Nuggets might not even want players back, since it would hard-cap them at the first apron, making the deal even more complex.<\/p>\n That leaves Watson and his agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, in a familiar position. Klutch restricted free agents have played the waiting game before. And across the NBA, this is becoming more of a theme. Jonathan Kuminga\u2019s situation dragged through much of last summer. Josh Giddey\u2019s lingered similarly. Watson is reportedly seeking around $25 million annually. Whether that number is coming from Watson\u2019s camp, the Nuggets\u2019 side or both, the effect is the same: the market is cooling, and leverage is slowly shifting back to Denver on this front \u2014 even if it isn\u2019t across the board this offseason.<\/p>\n A source told me a year ago that former general manager Calvin Booth was prepared to give Watson upward of $80 million last summer, had he not been fired. ESPN salary cap insider Bobby Marks projected<\/a> four years and $90 million ahead of free agency. Matt Moore of The Denver Dig landed at an average annual value of $21.5 million in his own comp-driven breakdown. All of those numbers now look like a ceiling Watson may struggle to reach if no team forces the Nuggets\u2019 hand.<\/p>\n The financial backdrop makes the posture even more logical. The Nuggets already dumped<\/a> Jonas Valanciunas this week to save money on their tax bill. Bringing back Watson without trading another starter would push the team above the second apron and toward a $200 million tax bill, let alone the $200 million they would be spending on salary. This is because the Nuggets would be in the luxury tax for the fourth time in five seasons, they are classified as a repeat-tax team with a steeper penalty.<\/p>\n