Right ahead of Sunday night's cut-off, the Denver Nuggets opted to match the two-year, $12 million qualifying offer the OKC Thunder extended to 25-year-old wing Spencer Jones a little over 24 hours earlier.
By doing so, it's clear Denver is prioritizing holding onto one of their more interesting, homegrown role players in the hopes of watching his impact as a 3&D role player grow even greater moving forward.
However, with this decision of theirs having such a grave effect on their already lofty payroll, they've now only made it all the more difficult to retain objectively the more proven and far more established Peyton Watson, who, as of this writing, is still a restricted free agent.
Matching Thunder offer sheet hurts Peyton Watson return odds
By matching the Thunder's offer sheet for Jones, the Nuggets are officially residents of the dreaded second apron and now stare at a ludicrous $32 million increase in expected luxury tax payments.
Even before this move, Denver was already looking at quite an uphill battle when it came to their hopes of re-signing Watson. Not only were they dealing with limited spending flexibility, but they also had a ton of rival clubs reported to be interested in his services, with the Hawks, Bucks, and Clippers headlining the charge.
By committing to Jones' new figures, even if they were able to re-up with the coveted wing somewhere in the $23 million range, the Nuggets' tax penalties would balloon to $238 million, which, per ESPN's Bobby Marks, does not include payroll.
Many see this as the move that now guarantees Watson's departure, and the Thunder are arguably the architects of the proverbial road he'll be taking on his exit from the Mile High City.
Thunder can still freely use Lu Dort TPE with Spencer Jones staying put
On top of the fact that they've now sent a direct conference rival into unprecedented tax hardships, as Denver is currently the only team in the association to fall inside the second apron, the Thunder should also be elated about the Nuggets matching Jones' offer because it now keeps their monstrous $17.7 million TPE attained in the Lu Dort trade unimpeded.
While having someone of his skill set joining the roster and, presumably, serving as the direct understudy to Jalen Williams at the three may have sounded enticing, having the aforementioned exception, which could be used to trade for a player between now and the deadline without coughing up salary in exchange, at their disposal could prove even more valuable down the line.
The Thunder have been ravaged by health-related ailments and a bevy of key player absences over the last two years. This kind of exception is one of the best break glass for emergency luxuries a title-hungry, injury-prone team could have at their dissposal.
By not filling out their 15 and final roster spot, hard-capping themselves at the second apron, and having their tax penalty rise from $19.9 million to $43 million with the Jones addition, Oklahoma City holds onto its ability to fully utilize the Dort TPE should they need to, which may turn out to be the best-case scenario of this whole ordeal should recent history repeat itself.
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