The Denver Nuggets may soon be losing another member of their 2023 NBA championship team.
Nuggets forward Peyton Watson is expected to leave the team as a free agent in the summer, Bennett Durando of the Denver Post reported on Saturday. Durando writes that it is seen as increasingly unlikely that Watson will be in the Nuggets’ price range for a new contract as he is currently enjoying a career year.
Watson, still only 23, was Denver’s first-round pick out of UCLA in 2022 (No. 30 overall). He won a title with the Nuggets in 2023 and has steadily developed as an all-around player ever since then.
This season, Watson is averaging 10.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game on 50/39/71 shooting splits, every single one of which is a career-high. Defense has long been known as Watson’s calling card as well with his athletic 6-foot-8 frame and his 7-foot-1 wingspan.
Watson will be a restricted free agent this offseason, meaning that the Nuggets will be able to match any offer sheet for him. But with sizable money already tied up in their core quartet of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Christian Braun (all of whom are signed through at least 2028), Denver seems doubtful to hand out another sizable contract such as that one in the midst of the NBA’s second apron era.
The Nuggets currently sit at 20-6 this season, which ranks second in the Western Conference. They already parted ways with one mainstay over the summer, and now Watson’s impressive contract-year performance thus far means that he could be next.
