[Cavs] are a ‘serious’ candidate to land Peyton Watson. There are other teams interested in Watson as well, but they are a serious candidate.
Nuggets traded MPJ just to overpay Christian Braun and now they’ll probably lose Peyton Watson too
how are they gonna lose peyton watson? watson’s only choice is to sign a good deal for the nuggets or to take the qualifying offer and bet he’ll get a bigger contract afterwards. cavs can’t make any sort of offer that would tempt the nuggets to trade them watson.
Because I don’t think there is a single example of a RFA like Watson taking QO and remaining with that same team.
Watson taking the QO is the same as him leaving it’ll just a year later and for nothing in return. And it’s pretty obvious that the Nuggets aren’t gonna give him a contract that he’ll be happy with.
Its more a question of when or how he is moved at this point
Well he either takes QO or signs the deal they offered.
No other team can offer what Nuggets want for Watson, since they can only get him through sign and trade at this point.
Free agency market is way worse next year, with guys like Curry, AD, Lebron, Kawhi, Giannis, Jimmy Butler, KD, Irving, KAT.. and other role players who have way more valuable.
You’ll have Miles Bridges Rj barrett, herro lavine..
You think Watson will risk a QO for that? Silly takes lol.
He’ll most likely take the deal with less years on the contract. A 70⁄4 makes sense for a 3x hamstring injury wing at 23 yrs old who has only played well for 1 month last season and never played in the playoffs.
Other teams can offer what the Nuggets want for Watson, I’m assuming you meant “no other team *will*”?
It’s also a negotiation and reportedly Denver has lowered their asking price, Denver actually doesn’t have a ton of leverage given them being a second apron team so other teams will use that to their advantage.
other teams cannot flat out offer what denver can offer, no one has cap space so they would need denver to agree to a S&T. denver still has most of the leverage
Reread my comment, I was clearly referring to a S&T, also Denver doesn’t have “the most leverage” in this situation for reasons myself and others have already explained because if they did then he’d either already be on a team friendly deal or traded at premium.
the off-season isn’t over, denver can still have him either on a team friendly deal or traded for a good price. they do have the most leverage because of the fact that he’s a rfa, they can match any offer and can decline s&t offers if they aren’t enough
the most watson can do is take the QO which is worst case scenario for him, and that option alone doesn’t give him more leverage over the nuggets
This guy gets it
Denver doesn’t have the most leverage, because again, if they did then he’d already be on a team friendly deal or traded. Thats how leverage works, they will owe hundreds of millions in luxury tax tax if they pay him anywhere close to what he is asking so it’s in their best interest for him to be traded for assets that they can use to shed salary in other trades. They’ve already reportedly lowered their asking price which is NOT leverage.
Denver is a second apron team that desperately needs to shed salary with little to no draft assets, so no, that’s not leverage. lol
“Denver doesn’t have the most leverage, because again, if they did then he’d already be on a team friendly deal or traded”
this doesn’t make sense, no deal being done yet doesn’t mean denver has no leverage. again, they have plenty of time before the offseason ends
“they will owe hundreds of millions in luxury tax tax if they pay him anywhere close to what he is asking”
so? they can choose to do that, having to pay more in luxury tax doesn’t take away from their leverage. other teams can’t force denver to trade with them, and watson is unlikely to take his QO. denver has more leverage over anyone in this situation because of that
Peyton Watson’s leverage is an illusion. What happens if he accepts the QO and tears his Achilles the next day? Who has the leverage in that contract negotiation in 2027? Sure, he can be a UFA next year, but teams aren’t building that way anymore. He lost at RFA, just as the system is designed to do
Rich Paul paying you to say all these things? Lmaooo.
Denver has no reason to leak that information, so I’d take it with a grain of salt because it’s almost certainly coming from Klutch.
No, literally no one has cap space to sign him outright. If they want him they have to trade for him. Nuggets aren’t losing Watson for nothing unless he walks next year which in that case they got a cheap year out him to try and make a run.
Cavs could offer the full midlevel with a player option and trade kicker. Nuggets might match, but it doesn’t cost the Cavs anything other than a couple days if the Nuggets match. Cavs could then salary dump Merrill somewhere to accomplish their goal of overpaying Harden.
I think there are some deal constructions that would make sense for the Nuggets, but they all probably involve the Cavs giving Harden a tree planting contract for a year and taking Nnaji and Strawther into trade exceptions, and sending out most of their young players. Tomlin and Tyson would be awesome playing with Jokic.
The Nuggs are offering 17 mil AAV. Isn’t that higher than the MLE? I should’ve said no one has the cap space to offer what he’s asking for.
Why would Watson sign a \(6m deal over two years when he won't sign \)17m per year from Denver? Offer sheets must be at least 2 guaranteed years.
I swear every fan that thinks their team should get Watson is braindead.
When did I state that other teams would sign him outright to an offer sheet? Do people not read anymore? lol
Well then you don’t understand the CBA then
Dude, do you lack reading comprehension? Your reply is misplaced because you are responding to what you think I said versus what I actually said.
You aren’t a CBA expert, very few people are and the ones that are have careers and are not on Reddit being biased like you are. lol
Aww the little baby blocked me because I called out his stupidity
This guy doesn’t know what a sign and trade is
i do and i also know that’s not possible. the cavs have 1 first round to pick to trade and the nuggets being over the 2nd apron means they can’t take back any players in a sign and trade. the cavs are well over the salary cap so they’d have to create a trade exception by dumping salary which they need assets to do but oh wait they only have 1 2nd round pick left because they sent their other for keon ellis who walked in free agency.
Lmao if he takes the QO it’ll still end up with him leaving. The Nuggets FO are smooth brained
He won’t take the QO. Free agency market is stacked next year.
How is it “stacked”? Most of the stars “available” next year are likely to stay with their current teams, even then that doesn’t necessarily affect Watson directly.
The quality wing options are actually quite limited next summer so he’d have some value in that regard.
If teams have the outright cap space to sign him. There will be some teams with potential space but even next year doesn’t look great for him.
It’s hard to tell for sure at this point, until he actually chooses to take the QO. Teams will open up space if they think someone they want is actually available.
Haha ok, thanks for proving my point. Teams can’t just “open up space” to sign him.
Yes, they can, it’s called making trades to open up cap space. Is this your supposed to be your attempt at trolling instead of having a discussion in good faith?
It’s worse to take QO. He’ll just be another Nerlens Noel or Dennis Schroder. Even Cam Thomas made this mistake.
You guys out here with wishful thinking because you want pwat for scraps.
Nuggets have a sub par FO but they’re not stupid. And so is Rich Paul. He’s not gonna push Pwat to do QO and lose out on money. So stupid
He won’t take an offer that locks him at sub mle pay for 5 years
They’ll work it out. Going to be renegotiated for sure.
Uh no they won’t he is absolutely leaving if they wanted him to stay they should have offered him a 2 year prove it deal
Lmaoo you’re even going into the dumb Nuggets sub just to prove a point.
We get it you love Pwat lol.
Not really I just hate the rfa system and it’s unlikely to ever get fixed because the players would have to give up something to get it fixed.
are the Nuggets willing to lose Peyton for nothing in a QO?
Braun is on the lower list of their problems, he can/will probably bounce back next year, the problem is Murray being paid like a superstar and Gordan getting 35 million and missing the last two playoff runs due to injuries. Also Zeke Nnaji’s terrible contract.
Gordon was run into the ground because he’s too important for their team to not play him if he’s “available”, but Murray was both All nba third team and an all star this year even if he’s been subpar for a max standard. Brauns contract genuinely kneecapped their ability to retain MPJ, forced in a Cam Johnson who struggled early, and he earns in one year what Nnaji does in ~3. It’s not even close he’s by far the most damaging piece
Gordon was playing normal starter minutes he has just been injury prone, and him just outright missing playoff runs has been the single most detrimental thing for the nuggets the last two years, MPJ getting traded was inevitable if not last year then this year and even if they were paying Braun around 18 million a year they would still be in a crappy spot financially.
.. because he’s injury prone and so important they don’t sit him enough. His pet might minutes are fine, he just should be given more rest in between them.
????
MPJ was traded 3+ months before Braun signed. So how did Christian’s contact make it so they couldn’t keep Mike…?
You can’t put a price on being the leader of the locker room though.
One MPJ gets Braun and Cam.
MPJ never lost in 1st round with Nuggets. I’m just sayin
Isn’t losing in the first round better than not appearing in the playoffs?
Mpj missed the playoffs with the brookly nets
And the year the nuggets lost in round 1, mpj missed due to injury. Didn’t make the active playoff roster
Yet this reddit thinks Christian Braun earned his contract even though he was the most obvious Jokic merchant ever
Yeah, all 2 million active users were saying the same thing and only you knew better
Yeah and who turned out to be right? Yeah that’s what I thought…
Such a misunderstood genius. Inspiring.
me, i was the one who turned out that it was who was right
I’m sad that the public school system failed you so badly
Fr I feel like he would barely even crack the rotation on certain teams
It’s such a stupid franchise. Multiple FOs. One constant: nepo owner Josh Kroenke. Dumbass nepo baby doesn’t know how to run a franchise.
Teams scrambling and willing to give up the farm to land Watson so they don’t have to explain to there fans why they signed Kuminga for $20m+ instead.
No team is willing to give up the farm for him lol.
Or end up with Ben Simmons on a vet minimum lmao
This gotta be kumingas agent, he’s getting 15 million from the lakers max.
We don’t have 15m to give him, Hawks would have to take vando.
And Atlanta would rather have kuminga leave for nothing then take on vando + seconds
If I’m the Hawks, I’d be all over that 2032 Lakers unprotected 1st round pick swap.
That’s several years after Reaves/Kessler/Doncic will be unrestricted free agents, and the Lakers won’t really have any cap space or picks to improve the roster by then.
I’d rather not pay \(20M+ in tax and not take \)12M+ of dead money for 2 years than have 2032 swap. Hawks are right at the tax line and have 16 guaranteed contracts.
Hawks have 3 best players on great contracts - NAW/JJJ/Okungwu make only $60M for the next 2 years, a bunch of expiring mid size contracts, and all the picks. They are one move away from contending. Who tf cares about 2032 swap that might or might not give them 9th pick instead of 15th.
I don’t think they’re 1 move away from contending.
I think they more just have a ton of surplus value contracts that should be converted into future picks. Then have an OKC style rebuild where they just have an unfair amount of picks.
Basically, right now they are kind of set to win 48 games for the next 10 years. But if they could trade 24 of those wins per year for each of the next 5 years and convert them into future years, that means they’d do 5 years of 24 wins, then 5 years of 72 wins. And that’s a better outcome for sure.
Obviously, these numbers are placeholders and not real. But just stating the obvious benefit of concentrating all your assets into a single time window, rather than smoothing it over a decade.
I’m a little confused why they did not make a move for Brown, especially since he is from Atlanta, but perhaps they did not like him enough. I think they are set up perfectly to make the next big trade, probably at the deadline. Maybe not, but they certainly don’t need 2 years of Vanderbilt, especially since it will make them taxpayers. If Kuminga is sign and traded, Vanderbilt will go to a 3rd team.
Any combination of existing Hawks players that add up to \(57m would be better than what Brown provides at \)57m
Why do you have a Celtics flair? Aren’t you a Lakers fan?
Well yeah surely pelinka knows that too that’s why it hasn’t already been dealt yet
Nobody is giving up the farm for him or he would already be traded.
I mean Cavs are fucked. They missed out on Lebron. They paid Mitchell a deal that is bound to age poorly. They got swept in the ECF and the east has gotten stronger with Hali back, Giannis to Miami, LeBron and JB to Philly, Kawhi maybe to Toronto.
Cavs are gonna slide backwards and need to make a move. If they run it back their ceiling is second round loss
Paces didn’t exactly get better, as they also lost pieces from their Finals team (Turner). Hali returning to full health/how he played pre-injury is still a question mark. And in the NBA things move fast, so who knows.
Miami doesn’t really have any depth, and getting Giannis doesn’t automatically make them a top 4 playoff team.
Detroit stayed put, and got a little worse. But they are young so people are expecting natural improvement from their your players.
76ers should leap frog most teams and be either the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd seed, same with the Knicks for obvious reasons.
Celtics got worse but probably not terribly worse than what they were. So those will probably be your top 3 seeds.
Cavs were the 4th seed last year. So they’ll probably end up the 4-5th seed next year. Why they lost Wade (their only big loss), Harden should have more than 15 games with the starters like he did last year, which will help with chemistry (this was a big issue in the postseason regarding turnovers).
But I do agree with you regarding the Cavs probably feeling they need to make a move, since they were one of the big losers from LeBron’s decision and didn’t get noticeably better.
Pacers did get better - we got a much stronger interior presence in Zubac. We also replaced Mathurin (who’s still unsigned because nobody wants to pay him) for Kelly Oubre, who will replace Mathurin’s product at half the cost annually.
That all being said, those aren’t flashy moves and a lot of teams in the East have made bigger splashes.
Everything hinges on Haliburton returning to form - until then, people always count out the Pacers
It’s super serial guys.
Very cereal stuff guys.
I like the chyron asking the question “does James harden make the Cavs a contender in the east” like it’s some hypothetical as if James harden wasn’t on the Cavs last year
Well, he wasn’t there for much of the regular season and throughout most of that there were major players injured. Playoffs everyone was finally healthy but to be fair they hadn’t practiced much together overall so it’s not too outlandish of a question, imo, if coming from that perspective.
We easily get bounced in R1 without Harden. I know he was a turnover machine but he helped far more than he hurt. Knicks were just rolling.
Agree.
He was there for like 2 months and a lot of people dont know this but Harden broke his hand before the playoffs.
Please Jesus Watson take some super leap and magically cover all of our flaws😤
why can’t my team ever be interested in good players
Blazers got Avdija for almost nothing a couple years ago and got Jrue last season
Deni cost 2 1sts and 2 2nds, if I’m not mistaken.
I think the 1st they already got was a lottery pick
One first round pick was out of the lottery, and the other first the second most favorable.
Also Deni was on a crazyyyy team-friendly deal. Portland won the deal pretty easily
Google may be wrong, but the 1st that has already conveyed was the 14th in the 24 draft, so just barely a lottery pick
Oh i had it in my mind Carrington was the 15th pick. Whoops
It was #14 in 2024, technically in the lottery but lol
The 14th pick, another future 1st and 2 2nds is quite a bit more than the nothing you said they got him for.
Still a great deal for Portland though
The future first is the second best of Blazers, Celtics, and Bucks in 2029. There’s almost no chance that that pick will be good.
With the new lottery rules, that pick could definitely end up as a good 1st.
The Celtics are likely a playoff team in 3 years, but who knows how good the bucks or Blazers are
The new lottery rules aren’t going to matter if Blazers and Celtics make the playoffs and the Blazers get to take the Bucks pick.
you were technically wrong when you said they got Avdija for almost nothing, but your idea is right that Portland greatly won the trade over washington
you were technically wrong when you said they got Avdija for almost nothing
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
reading comprehension is dead
you scammed Deni from washington
Hey at least you got Ja Morant, he was a good player.
I get what you’re saying but i’m cool with not going for Watson. What do you pay him vs what does he think he’s worth?
I think once the Kawhi situation is handled and he goes to Toronto the Clippers might have some interest.
Clippers make the most sense of the team’s that have been rumored since I would imagine the Bucks would prioritize seeing what they have in Burries and Ament while the Cavs are in win-now mode so the opportunities are going to be much more limited
Seems he has an opportunity to be a starting small forward in Cleveland surrounded by near All-Star talent at every other position. There’s nothing limiting about that situation.
Do you not know what the word “opportunity” means? Because Cleveland is by a wide margin the destination with the least opportunity for growth, touches and long-term financial upside if they break out due to that aforementioned opportunity. They’re in win-now mode whereas Milwaukee and the Clippers can more readily afford him minutes to develop without worrying about this season and any hypothetical window for a Conference Finals or NBA Finals outright.
He’s had four years worth of minutes to develop. He made the most of his chances last year, wants 25 mil per, and so likely wants to start all 82 on a contender. There’s nothing wrong with winning this season.
Agreed, which is why if winning matters then he should stay with the Nuggets who can offer the same or more money than the Cavs
Glad we agree on that, Stayton Watson stays!
Does Toronto still want Kawhi if he is suspended?
If he’s suspended then the package changes but short of a complete voiding, I’m sure Kawhi will be a Raptor
The package probably won’t change. Bobby is a horrid negotiator
He literally negotiated the original Kawhi deal and kept Anunoby out of it despite the Spurs coveting him
Chances might even go up with a complete voiding.. kawhi would be a free agent
Maybe, though he only has one year left on his contract, so even a half-season suspension is a significant change in value, and a full season suspension would mean Kawhi sits out 2026-27 and becomes a UFA after that.
Well the presumption is that he would sign a (at minimum) 2 year extension but yes it does hamper his value in the short term. Whether the Raptors would value getting back their pick swap in 2027 (It’s a weak draft but if there’s a suspension then that pick becomes more valuable as a result of a suspension for the 2026⁄27 season) or protecting those very distant firsts (They’re both unprotected) is a matter of debate but I think Toronto can only push for one. Maybe they get back a second too but it’s either returning the swap or a pick protection. Not both.
Cavs don’t need more starting talent. They have one of the best rosters in the NBA. They are better than the 76ers.
The Cavs need to stay healthy, and they need a consistent effort from their bench. Mitchell was obviously injured and missing a step even since he twisted his ankle against Detroit. Not going to win with him at anything below 100%.
Schroder can be traded. Strus should be kept.
Sure, and the Leafs are a ‘serious candidate’ to get past the second round
Like…the maximum offer they can make is about on par with the Nuggets offer (Sign and trade triggers a hard cap) and that’s assuming they don’t sign James Harden to more than around 13 million. Plus the Cavaliers don’t have many picks to move - I think they can move a pick in the 2030s but no more than that - so it’s hard to see them even matching an offer from the Bucks or Clippers, let alone beating them or even any number of unknown teams who might be interested in Peyton.
Oh and this isn’t accounting for the Cavaliers current restrictions due to the aprons making a trade all the more complicated.
That’s not true, the Cavs would just need to dump Schroeder and Strus to have enough to sign both Watson and Harden to the money they’re looking for. It’s juts a bit more complex to get it done because it’s going to involve a lot more teams. This is the reason why Harden hasn’t been resigned yet so we can operate like a team under the 1st apron and dump players
You know dumping one of or both Strus and Schroeder without taking back salary is going to cost assets the team doesn’t have, right? Not counting the rookie you picked this year, I’m pretty sure the Cavs only have one first they can outright move which the Nuggets are asking for at bare minimum - and it’s not like Denver is interested in developing the former unless they can move them and Zeke Nnaji to a 3rd team that further complicates the deal.
Schroeder might need assets to dump, but Strus is likely a positive or neutral trade asset.
He’s a 16 million dollar expiring contract that avg 11⁄5 on 44/40/78 on 6.8 3pa per game last season.
As for Schroeder, he is also an expiring contract at 14.8 million as the last season is non-guaranteed. At most it would require a couple 2nd round picks to get rid of him.
Which team do you see taking Strus into a trade exception? No team has sufficient cap space at the moment.
The Cavs could even just waive and stretch Schroder and Strus to sign Watson, if the Nuggets won’t match a full MLE offer. What Harden’s lack of a signing does is allow the Cavs to decide what to do with Strus and Schroder till after Watson plays out instead of before.
I assume you have them giving up Tyson for Watson then?
I didn’t watch the nuggets much last year…anyone wanna chime in with thoughts on Watson? Is this a smart trade to move Tyson and Strus for him? I’m ignorant in this
No, they sign him and hope Denver doesn’t match an offer higher than what they are reportedly offering to Watson. If Denver matches, they look at Kuminga. No draft capital and no young players out.
Oh you’re saying no sign and trade? Got it.
What offer sheet price do u think he and watson agree to
The nuggets are offering $17m a year lol. He isn’t signing for less than half of that for multiple years with Cleveland. What are we even taking about?
Cleveland has no way to offer him the $25m+ he wants. This is just posturing likely by Klutch.
Also, The only player that Denver would even want that Cleveland would conceivably give up is Tyson, who they probably don’t want to part with. Denver isn’t going this sign and trade for Schroeder/Strus
Denver can’t even take back a player in a S&T unless they get below the 2nd apron.
They’d have to trade Tyson or the 2031 first.
I think it has to be Tyson. No way Denver, a team in championship or bust stage, trade Watson for just draft compensation.
Im not sure that Watson is better than Tyson
Watson could be anything.
He could even be Tyson!
It’d be Strus.
Feels like both teams need another move, or someone else involved for the overall salary to work.
With what money?
Besides carrying Lebrons bags, dave knows nothing