Ranking Nuggets' 3 Biggest Threats to Sign Peyton Watson

Projected Cap Space: $46.9M

Could Peyton Watson look to join forces in Brooklyn with his former teammate from Denver in Michael Porter Jr.? The Nets would certainly have the money to make it happen, and could be trending towards trying to be much more competitive next season.

Reason being: the Nets don't own their first-round pick next year. That's with the Houston Rockets.

So rather than bottoming out in hopes of a high pick like they did last season, Brooklyn could spend big on the free-agent market for a starting-level addition to help them win now. Watson fits that mold quite well.

However, of the three teams on the list, Brooklyn has the least cap space of all. And there are far more needs to address on this roster, rather than just getting a 3&D wing. So they shouldn't be totally discounted, but certainly not a clear front-runner, either.

2. LA Lakers

Projected Cap Space: $48.4M

There might not be any team linked as a possible suitor for Watson more than the LA Lakers, who head into this offseason with a rare opportunity to spend on the free agent market with a projected $40 million in cap space, and build a complementary core around Luka Doncic.

Watson complements a Doncic team tremendously: he has length, can space the floor, and he can defend; all of which were prominent qualities of the Dallas Mavericks' 2024 core that led Luka to a Finals appearance, and could offer a bit of a model for how the Lakers can build up a real championship contender for next season.

The hurdle the Lakers might be faced with, though, centers around their pending free agent situation for their own roster that has to be addressed before external moves like Watson.

Austin Reaves and LeBron James are each due for new contracts, and could end up costing LA a pretty penny, and remove some of that extensive cap flexibility.

1. Chicago Bulls

Projected Cap Space: $63.5M

The one team that's not being talked about enough with perhaps the best chance of actually pushing an offer sheet high enough to land Watson in restricted free agency is the Chicago Bulls.

That's because of their massive salary figure to spend this offseason compared to any other one of the 29 teams, at over $60 million. That's an insane amount of money to spend.

It would take a steep offer sheet for the Nuggets to decide they don't have the right room to match Watson's contract. And in reality, not many teams around the league could be as risk-tolerant to genuinely offer that.

But the Bulls, with the most projected cap space of any team in the NBA, a brand new head of their front office and soon-to-be new head coach, and a bit of a blank slate for a roster, this team truly is unpredictable as to how they could construct their 2026-27 roster.

If Chicago feels like there's an untapped ceiling to be had in Watson's game that he could unlock with the Bulls, and that he's one of the top names up for grabs on the market, this front office could actually challenge the Nuggets with a competitive offer.