The Cavaliers continue to be classified as a team to watch when it comes to Nuggets restricted free agent Peyton Watson.

League sources say Cleveland has been exploring various trade possibilities with both Dennis Schröder and Max Strus that would enable the Cavaliers — provided one or both of those salaries could be shed — to make a representative four-year offer to Watson.

Schröder is scheduled to earn \(14.8 million in 2026-27 and \)15.5 million in 2027-28 … with only \(4.4 million guaranteed in the latter season. Strus holds an expiring \)16.7 million contract for 2026-27 to complete a four-year, $63 million deal he originally signed with Miami.

Finding a team to absorb such salaries at this point in the offseason, mind you, is easier said than done.

The Clippers and Bucks, meanwhile, continue to be regarded as the most credible external suitors for Watson alongside Cleveland. Watson, 23, entered restricted free agency hopeful for a deal that would pay him north of the \(25 million in annual average value secured last October by teammate Christian Braun in a five-year, \)125 million rookie scale contract extension.

If the Nuggets do not ultimately furnish the sort of long-term offer that Watson is willing to accept and if no sign-and-trade deal elsewhere materializes, Watson would be forced to contemplate an option he’d naturally rather avoid: Playing out the 2026-27 season on a $6.5 million qualifying offer to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

https://marcstein.substack.com/p/lots-more-late-night-nba-intel?r=1m9zg&utm_medium=ios