While LeBron James’ high-profile move to Philadelphia continues to dominate headlines across the NBA, the Denver Nuggets made a subtler move on Sunday that may complicate the situation with Peyton Watson.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Nuggets decided to match the Oklahoma City Thunder’s fully guaranteed two-year, $12 million offer sheet to Spencer Jones, keeping the 6-foot-7 forward in Denver through the 2027-28 season.
Jones was an undrafted free agent in 2024 out of Stanford, and after seeing limited playing time as a rookie, he saw a significant boost in minutes last season. Appearing in 64 games, including 37 starts, he averaged 5.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 0.8 steals in 22.1 minutes per game, shooting 50.4% from the field and 39.6% from 3-point range.
However, by matching Jones’ offer sheet, that has now pushed the Nuggets into the costly second apron of the luxury tax, restricting their financial flexibility to get any deal done with Watson.
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While Jones looked good last year, he wasn’t nearly the player Watson was — or what Watson is projected to be. The 30th overall pick in 2022, Watson put up career-highs across the board last season, averaging 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 blocks, and 0.9 steals in 29.6 minutes per game, while shooting 49.1% from the field and 41.1% from long range — and he’s still just 23 years old.
Watson is coming off a breakout year with the Nuggets, and with his rookie deal up, signing him to a long-term deal was widely viewed as one of the biggest priorities in Denver.
The team is already carrying heavy financial commitments to Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon, and Watson looks like he could be the league’s next big breakout star. Locking him into a long-term deal before he fully arrived as a star would have been the ideal play, but the Nuggets have now boxed themselves into a tough spot.
It isn’t impossible for them to still get a deal done, but Watson is already reportedly weighing the idea of taking a one-year qualifying offer of around $6.5 million for the 2026-27 season, which would set him up to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Moves like this make it hard to imagine any deal for Watson getting done — and they potentially limit his chances of staying with the franchise beyond next season.
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