After Serbia defeated France in an exhibition contest on Thursday, Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic was asked for his reaction to the Peyton Watson sign-and-trade and for his expectations for the upcoming season, per Miroslav Cuk of DNVR Nuggets and ONE (Twitter video link).
“I’m happy for Peyton, he deserved it,” Jokic said. “We will miss his energy and skill. I’m not thinking about season yet, we have to play this (two August qualifying games for the 2027 World Cup), but it’s gonna be OK.”
While Zach Kram of ESPN acknowledges the Nuggets’ luxury tax payment would have exorbitant if they had signed Watson to the four-year, $88MM deal he received from Cleveland, and says the draft assets Denver received prevented the deal from being an “unmitigated disaster,” Kram gave the Nuggets a “D” grade for their part in the five-team trade.
As Kram writes, Denver will sorely miss Watson’s youth, athleticism, defense and upside — all attributes the team already doesn’t have enough of. While it’s possible the Nuggets could turn the 2031 first-rounder they received from the Cavs into a player down the line, Kram is skeptical that player would be more impactful than Watson and believes Denver would have been better off retaining him.
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The Watson deal showed ownership’s unwillingness to pay a hefty tax bill, according to Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette, who argues the trade will look even worse if the Kroenkes force the front office to shed additional salary using the few draft assets the team has available. As Benedetto observes, Denver’s front office was lauded for the moves it made last summer, which looked good on paper, but ultimately resulted in a first-round playoff exit. A year later, the Nuggets have more or less swapped out Michael Porter Jr., Watson and Dario Saric for Cameron Johnson, one season of Jonas Valanciunas, and a second-round pick. Not exactly an inspiring return, Benedetto writes.
Mark Kiszla and Paul Klee of The Denver Gazette debate whether or not the Nuggets are “wasting” Jokic’s prime years by trading Watson. If the goal was to shed salary, Kiszla believes they would have been better off moving Johnson, who’s six-and-a-half years older than Watson and a worse player (in Kiszla’s view). Klee is less bullish on Watson, but agrees with Kiszla that the team has mismanaged the Jokic era, writing that ownership’s original mistake was letting former head of basketball operations Tim Connelly leave for Minnesota in the 2022 offseason. Both Kiszla and Klee think the Nuggets should be making moves to bolster their roster but instead have gotten worse.
On the Hoops Collective Podcast (YouTube short link), Tim MacMahon of ESPN referred to DeMar DeRozan‘s fit with Denver as “clunky.” MacMahon pointed out that the Nuggets’ options in free agency were limited and said the veteran scorer should help “prop up” what appears to be a lackluster second unit offense. However, he’s skeptical about DeRozan’s fit with Jokic. “I don’t think you can play DeRozan with Joker because DeRozan needs the ball,” MacMahon said. “He doesn’t space (the floor). He’s not a cutter. … And then that duo defensively stinks worse than morning breath after a 12-pack of Coors Light.”
Kram is more optimistic about the signing of DeRozan, especially given the modest cost. While he’s a much different player than Watson and the defensive concerns are certainly valid, Kram writes that DeRozan remains an efficient scorer and underrated play-maker and passer who should help “stabilize the offense” when Jokic or Jamal Murray are on the bench.