Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson
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Despite rumors suggesting otherwise, Peyton Watson isn't expected to sign the qualifying offer he's received from the Nuggets in free agency
The Denver Nuggets have been involved in quite a few rumors this offseason, but they haven’t managed to make many moves of note ahead of the 2026-27 campaign. Perhaps the most pressing piece of business the front office needs to take care of involves forward Peyton Watson, who is currently a restricted free agent.
Watson wants a big payday that he has not received from the Nuggets so far in free agency, and it seems like the two sides currently have found themselves in a stalemate. A new report suggested that Watson could end up signing his qualifying offer with Denver for the upcoming season so that he can be an unrestricted free agent next offseason, but one NBA insider, Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, quickly shot that down.
Peyton Watson Not Expected to Sign Nuggets’ Qualifying Offer
Brett Siegel
I cannot recall a time that a high-profile Klutch athlete actually took the qualifying offer in RFA.
I highly doubt it happens now with Peyton Watson.
The No. 30 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Watson has gradually turned himself into a key piece of the Nuggets’ rotation during his first four years with the team. He took another big step forward last season, as he averaged 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 49.1% from the field.
And yet, interest in Watson this offseason hasn’t been particularly high. Being a restricted free agent certainly doesn’t help, but Denver’s front office hasn’t seemed particularly interested in giving him the sort of contract he’s looking for. That has led to an extended stay on the open market, and it doesn’t seem like a resolution is particularly close.
If things keep trending in the wrong direction, Watson could conceivably sign his one-year, $6.5 million qualifying offer from Denver, play out the season, and then test the market as an unrestricted free agent next year. However, that would see Watson pass up on a boatload of money upfront, and when considering how he is represented by the notoriously aggressive Klutch Sports agency, Siegel just doesn’t see that happening.
“I cannot recall a time that a high-profile Klutch athlete actually took the qualifying offer in RFA. I highly doubt it happens now with Peyton Watson,” Siegel wrote in a post on X.
No End in Sight for Nuggets’ Peyton Watson Free Agency Saga
Peyton Watson
GettyPeyton Watson of the Denver Nuggets
Watson is one of the brightest two-way wings in the league, so he obviously deserves to get paid this offseason. The problem is that he has no leverage in his negotiations, and the Nuggets don’t seem interested in breaking the bank in order to keep him in town. That has left Watson without many options, unless another team decides to come in and hand him an offer sheet that is to his liking.
At some point, Watson will probably find some common ground with Denver and sign a new deal, but there is still no momentum towards that happening anytime soon. The Nuggets are continuing to weigh their options, and until they have a clear plan on what their future looks like, Watson will probably find himself waiting for a deal to materialize in free agency.