The Denver Nuggets Are Fumbling The Prime Of Nikola Jokic After Essentially Trading Peyton Watson For Nothing In A Massive Multi-Team Sign & Trade
While most of the NBA transactions have been finalized for weeks now, there were really only a handful of decisions left. There's the whole Kawhi situation and if he would ever officially become a Raptor (he will), there's the Jonathan Kuminga situation where essentially zero NBA teams want him on their roster for anything other than low money, and then the big RFA situation going on in Denver with Peyton Watson.
Once it came out that things were most likely going to be swept under the rug with the Kawhi investigation, I think we can cross that one off the list. While Kuminga is still TBD, we finally do have a resolution with Peyton Watson, and holy shit
The reigning East finalist Cavaliers have retooled their roster now, bringing in the 23-year-old wing for athleticism and scoring after a career season and trading out Strus and Dennis Schroder over the last week.
The Nuggets are landing a valuable, far out first-rounder plus a second while the Clippers move a 2027 second-rounder acquired from Philadelphia in the Johni Broome trade to acquire an established player in Strus via a trade exception.
Quick question, what exactly are the Denver Nuggets doing? Are they aware that they are operating right in the middle of Nikola Jokic's prime? The same Nikola Jokic who has a player option for next summer? Your solution to giving him a competitive roster to actually try and contend is
A. Don't go deeper into the 2nd apron to retain Peyton Watson, a young promising player with upside
B. Trade said player, but then get back absolutely nothing in terms of players and only some future 1sts because you paid Spencer Jones to be over the 2nd apron?
Oh, I'm sorry. I guess we should also include them trying to go after DeMar DeRozan instead?
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I'm sorry, but that return is HORRENDOUS. Sorry if that offends, but not getting back a single player in this S&T is brutal. Once again, we are seeing the implications of the new CBA and the 2nd apron. Legally because they were a 2nd apron team, they couldn't take back a player. They could not have matched Spencer Jones' offer sheet and stayed under, or maybe moved off other money earlier this summer, but they didn't. Once you cross over, the deeper you go into that 2nd apron means the deeper your tax bill becomes. The Nuggets crossed the line when they brought back Spencer Jones, and now as a result, they basically just lost Peyton Watson for nothing
Looking at the Nuggets' books, it wouldn't shock me if they are now looking for a way to dump Zeke Nnaji and his $7M, so maybe that's what those extra picks are for. Either way, that's not a great spot to be in considering I'd say Peyton Watson is better in 2026 than DeMar DeRozan, but this is what happens when you give Christian Braun big money, have Jokic and Murray on 30%+ max deals, have Aaron Gordon at $30M and Cam Johnson at $23M. That shit adds up quick, and the next thing you know the 2nd apron is forcing you to give away talent for nothing. We've seen the Celtics be forced to do it, we've seen the Cavs do it, we've seen the Thunder do it, this is how it goes in today's NBA.
And while the Cavs may miss Strus' shooting a little bit, I do think this is a worthy gamble for them. They've been searching for a wing for years, and while I do think Jaylon Tyson showed flashes last year, it doesn't hurt to have options. You get younger and more athletic, so that's worth the gamble to me. It's not as if that isn't a movable salary down the line if needed, so it's fine. It kind of sucks for Strus since the Clippers may stink, but at least he gets to live in LA, which I'm sure he won't hate. Enjoy the nice weather for a year, and then you can hit free agency in the summer of 2027. That's certainly not the worst life in the world if you ask me.
But back to the Nuggets because honestly, that's what this is really about. It's pretty obvious that we're watching an all time fumble by the Nuggets when it comes to maximizing Jokic's prime. Yeah, they won the 2023 title so maybe they don't give a shit, but everything since that moment has been a disaster when it comes to this roster and how it's been built. They probably think because Jokic is a loyal guy and they can offer him the supermax next summer that he'll never leave, but this is the NBA we're talking about here. Crazy shit happens. To rule out that Jokic won't say enough is enough if the Nuggets have another underachieving year would be silly. Their future is fucked for the most part so there's an urgency to win in this window and look at how they are handling it.
Why do I personally care about something like that you may be wondering?
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Winslow Townson. Getty Images.Let's not forget who owns an expiring contract in the summer of 2027 that could make the money work while also owning about a billion 1st round picks. I'm not saying this is a done deal, but what I'm saying is the chances are not at 0.0%, which is good enough for me
Giphy Images.The thing about the 2nd apron is it's not a death sentence to go over initially. You get 2 years before the basketball penalties kick in. There are limitations during those two years, but really it comes down to ownership being willing to cut the luxury tax bill check until you can get back under. Given the Nuggets are in a win now situation, it's crazy to me that they didn't just sign Watson, pay the luxury tax bill for a year or two, and then offload money to get back under the apron in 2 years. Instead, they're still over the 2nd apron and have to sign worse players? Woof.
If I'm a Nuggets fan, I'm pretty bullshit over this. Anything that could potentially create a situation where Jokic asks out is the exact opposite of what I would want the team to be doing. Then again, this was the Nuggets owner last summer
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Whoops! Well that's a little awkward wouldn't you say, given everything that has transpired with the Nuggets since June 2025?As they say, life sure does come at you fast in the NBA