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Earlier this summer, the Nuggets offered Peyton Watson a four-year contract worth around $70MM, Brian Windhorst of ESPN confirmed on the Hoops Collective podcast (YouTube link). Marc Stein of The Stein previously reported Denver had offered its restricted free agent a deal in that range.

According to Windhorst, there were multiple teams who were interested in trading for Cameron Johnson and the Nuggets could have moved him for positive value. However, Windhorst isn’t sure if that applies to Christian Braun as well, considering he’s owed $125MM over the next five years, compared to Johnson’s $23.1MM expiring deal.

Denver realized it was unable to keep last season’s roster intact because it would have been prohibitively expensive to do so, per Windhorst. Rather than giving Watson the type of money he wanted — he landed a four-year, $88MM deal from Cleveland via sign-and-trade — the Nuggets essentially preferred to keep Johnson, Spencer Jones and Braun.

“Were they willing to keep Peyton Watson? Yes,” Windhorst said. “That’s why they offered him a multi-year contract for $17MMish a year. But there was a threshold where they preferred the Cam Johnson/Spencer Jones duo. And Braun, I’ll put that in there too. But I don’t think Braun was really moving this summer. And they chose that pathway. So, make of that what you will.”

Windhorst’s colleague Tim MacMahon followed up by pointing out that Denver’s financial crunch this offeason stemmed in part from the decision to sign Braun to that lucrative rookie scale extension last fall. Watson was also extension-eligible at the time and was reportedly seeking far less money last year than he was after a breakout fourth season.

“(Last fall) is when Christian Braun got a five-year, $125MM extension and they couldn’t come to an agreement with Peyton Watsonwho at the time wanted like mid-level money,” MacMahon said. “Wanted like $14MM a year. And the Nuggets wouldn’t go a dollar over $10MM (annually) was my understanding.

“Look, hindsight is 20/20. If they had to do (it) all over again, if they had to give Peyton Watson his $14MM (per year) and waited on Christian Braun … they probably would’ve been able to keep them both. But that’s not the way that things played out.”

Here’s more from Friday’s Hoop Collective podcast:

• MacMahon suggested some members of Denver’s organization thought Watson could have played in the playoffs, where the Nuggets lost in the first round to Minnesota. Watson was recovering from a hamstring strain at the time, an injury he aggravated multiple times in 2025/26. “There were some folks with the Nuggets who were kinda looking at that situation sideways, saying he’s putting business above the team right now,” MacMahon said. “I didn’t see the MRIs. I couldn’t tell you whether that’s true or not. But this is a bad, bad summer for the Denver Nuggets, man. They’re really expensive, got worse.” Windhorst then interjected by noting that Nikola Jokic also opted against signing a long-term extension for the second straight summer, though MacMahon observed that the three-time MVP has publicly said he wants to spend his entire career with the Nuggets. Still, a public proclamation isn’t binding, MacMahon noted, and the team is facing a significant amount of pressure to try and remain in contention with Jokic still in his prime.
• According to Windhorst, the Cavaliers are looking for frontcourt depth behind Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen and may reunite with a longtime former member of the team. “The Cavs are looking for a big man and Kevin Love is out there (in free agency). That’s a guy to keep an eye on for Cleveland.“
• With Watson’s RFA resolved and DeMar DeRozan heading to Denver, the Timberwolves are a team to monitor for Jonathan Kumingaaccording to Windhorst, who said the Lakers remain a possibility as well. “There’s still a window there for the Lakers to do a Kuminga sign-and-trade using Jaden Hardy.” However, Windhorst was skeptical that the Hawks would be willing to take back money in a Kuminga sign-and-trade, since it may push them over the luxury tax line. Atlanta is currently $4.08 below the tax, per Yossi Gozlan of Capsheets.com.
• An anonymous front office employee from a rival team had agreed to join the Lakersbut that hire is now on hold due to the team’s impending sale, per Windhorst.