Nuggets' Peyton Watson trade update is extra confusing

Nuggets’ Peyton Watson trade update is extra confusing originally appeared on The Sporting News.
Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Peyton Watson is a restricted free agent, so his future with the Denver Nuggets still hangs in the balance.

The latest news and update makes everything a bit more confusing.

The Athletic’s Sam Amick reports that the Nuggets plan to match any offer sheet Watson gets, but that they’d also consider a sign-and-trade.

So do they want to keep him, or not?

“The Denver Nuggets intend to match any offers for restricted free agent Peyton Watson when the NBA’s moratorium lifts on Monday, said league sources who were granted anonymity to discuss the ongoing negotiations,” is the way Amick reported this in his article. “Yet as the Nuggets and Watson’s agent, Rich Paul of the Klutch Sports Group, have continued to be apart in negotiations for a new contract, sources say Denver is also very open to the prospect of a sign-and-trade for the 23-year-old forward.”

MORE: Bronny James’ best future doesn’t involve a trade from Lakers

Amick goes on to compare this to Walker Kessler and the Jazz, who wanted to match offers but ended up sign-and-trading Kessler to the Lakers.

Watson is an intriguing young talent, and there’s surely interest in him from other teams.

“Watson helped carry the Nuggets when Nikola Jokić was sidelined for 16 games with a knee injury,” Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus wrote in his free agent rankings. “Through 15 games in January, Watson averaged 21.9 points per game and shot 46.2 percent from three-point range, compared to 14.9 points and 41.7 percent from three on the season.”

MORE: Cavaliers would form GOAT ending for LeBron James

Denver still has Nikola Jokic, which means that they have some serious championship aspirations. With that in mind, getting rid of Watson doesn’t seem ideal.

But apparently all options are on the table right now.

Stay tuned on this one, because it could still swing a couple of different directions.

More NBA news: