{"id":2028582,"date":"2026-07-06T01:05:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T22:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2028582"},"modified":"2026-07-06T01:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T22:05:14","slug":"nuggets-plan-to-match-offers-for-peyton-watson-but-open-to-sign-and-trade-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2028582","title":{"rendered":"Nuggets plan to match offers for Peyton Watson, but open to sign-and-trade: Sources"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Denver Nuggets intend to match any offers for restricted free agent Peyton Watson when the NBA\u2019s moratorium lifts on Monday, said league sources who were granted anonymity to discuss the ongoing negotiations.<\/p>\n

Yet as the Nuggets and Watson\u2019s agent, Rich Paul of the Klutch Sports Group, have continued to be apart in negotiations for a new contract, sources say Denver is also very open to the prospect of a sign-and-trade for the 23-year-old forward. As we\u2019ve seen several times this offseason, the rules relating to restricted free agency have created a challenging landscape for players in that position.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The recently resolved Walker Kessler situation<\/a> with the Utah Jazz is perhaps the best recent comparison to Watson\u2019s, as Utah consistently signaled a desire to match offers for the center \u2014 and a preference to avoid a sign-and-trade \u2014 only to arrange a deal with the Lakers in the end. In that instance, the Jazz decided that the chance to land two unprotected first-round picks and two first-round swaps was better than possibly overpaying Kessler, who signed with the Lakers on a four-year, $130 million deal. But the Nuggets\u2019 primary hope, the sources said, is to retain Watson, the fourth-year player who was taken 30th in the 2022 draft.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
What happens to the Nuggets now?<\/div>\n
Dave DuFour, Esfandiar Baraheni and more<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
{“@context”:”https:\/\/schema.org”,”@type”:”VideoObject”,”@id”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/kK2D3R3og5qpBiR\/”,”url”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/video\/kK2D3R3og5qpBiR\/”,”name”:”What happens to the Nuggets now?”,”description”:”Dave DuFour and Es Baraheni discuss what happens to the Nuggets now after losing in round 1. “,”uploadDate”:”2026-05-01T21:45:24.974Z”,”duration”:”PT36S”,”thumbnailUrl”:”https:\/\/cdn-media.theathletic.com\/video-stream\/auto-thumbnail\/kK2D3R3og5qpBiR\/0WmaaT069pgk.0000000.jpg”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/video.nyt.com\/athletic\/streams\/kK2D3R3og5qpBiR\/0WmaaT069pgk\/0WmaaT069pgk.m3u8″,”ineligibleRegion”:[“BI”,”BY”,”CD”,”CF”,”CU”,”IQ”,”IR”,”KP”,”LB”,”LY”,”ML”,”NI”,”RU”,”SD”,”SO”,”SS”,”SY”,”UA”,”VE”,”YE”,”ZW”],”publisher”:{“@type”:”NewsMediaOrganization”,”@id”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/#publisher”,”name”:”The Athletic”,”url”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/”,”foundingDate”:”2016-01-25″,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”@id”:”https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”url”:”https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”contentUrl”:”https:\/\/theathletic.com\/app\/themes\/athletic\/assets\/img\/the-athletic-wordmark-black.png”,”creditText”:”The Athletic”,”height”:”60″,”width”:”435″},”publishingPrinciples”:”https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/edit-guidelines\/”,”sameAs”:”https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Athletic”},”author”:[{“@type”:”Person”,”name”:”Dave DuFour, Esfandiar Baraheni and more”}]}<\/p>\n
\n
\n