[Jones] The Milwaukee Bucks have emerged as a team potentially interested in executing a sign-and-trade for Watson. You can add them to a list of potential suitors that includes the LA Clippers and Atlanta Hawks.
The Milwaukee Bucks have emerged as a team potentially interested in executing a sign-and-trade for Watson, according to league sources who were granted anonymity so that they could describe ongoing deliberations. You can add them to a list of potential suitors that includes the LA Clippers, who are now in a holding pattern after their Kawhi Leonard trade with the Toronto Raptors was paused due to the NBA’s ongoing Aspiration investigation. The Atlanta Hawks, who recently declined a team option on Jonathan Kuminga, are also interested in Watson, according to those sources.
The Nuggets are already over the luxury-tax threshold and could approach or exceed the \(222 million second apron if they give Watson an eight-figure contract. They signed Christian Braun to a five-year, \)125 million extension last summer, but he didn’t play up to that contract this past season. They also traded for Cam Johnson last summer, sending Michael Porter Jr. to the Brooklyn Nets. That trade hasn’t played out as hoped, either. Denver also lost Tim Hardaway Jr. this summer after he signed with the Miami Heat.
None of this precludes the Nuggets from re-signing Watson to a significant deal, but it does mean the Nuggets must be careful with money.