Nuggets Could Trade Key Piece to Retain Peyton Watson

The Denver Nuggets finished the 2025-26 NBA season as the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

Unfortunately, Denver lost in the first round to the Minnesota Timberwolves in six games, and now the Nuggets have a long offseason trying to figure out how to piece together another NBA Finals run.

Going into free agency, the Nuggets have a looming question regarding Peyton Watson, who is set to be a restricted free agent.

Watson finished the year averaging 14.6 points with 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists while playing in just 54 games due to injuries, and Watson missed the entire first round with a hamstring issue.

Still, the Nuggets are going to try their best to bring Watson back, and Tim Bontemps of ESPN even stated that it is likely one or two players will get moved in order to free up money to pay Watson.

"The Nuggets have never been big spenders, which is why the belief around the league is that Cameron Johnson (on an expiring $23 million deal) or Christian Braun (on a five-year, $125 million extension signed in the fall) is likely to be moved to create enough room to give Watson something in the per-year range of those players," Bontemps wrote.

Braun, who was the 21st overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, just earned a five-year extension in October, so the Nuggets' moving him already could be an interesting decision.

Still, if Denver wants to keep Watson, it might be necessary, although moving Johnson's rental contract would be smarter and easier.

Nuggets Have 1 Concern About Peyton Watson

Watson has been a key piece since being selected 30th overall in 2022. His rookie season, he played just 23 games before appearing in 80 games in his second year in the NBA.

However, there is a concern for Denver about keeping Watson and giving him a new deal.

"One point of potential concern is Watson's recurring hamstring injuries, which cost him a large chunk of the second half. Unfortunately, the injury came right after the best stretch of his career in January and early February," Bontemps wrote.

That could be a sticking point in contract discussions between Watson and Denver, so this will be an interesting situation to monitor going into the summer.

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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 6:44 AM.