Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[loki]

My guess is that DEN will sign Watson unless they can work a SNT with very little salary coming back, and its hard to imagine THAT trade given the NBA landscape. 

However, once the Watson deal is resolved, I can see them working to move either Braun or Cam Johnson, to try to mitigate the tax bill to some extent. 

It's possible they could even play it out until the TDL and if everyone is playing well, keep it all intact and eat the tax. Kroenke is MEGA wealthy. Given the presence of Jokic in his prime, with the clock ticking, this might be the right time for an owner to bite the bullet, because a title is perhaps in reach, and probably wont get easier in a future year.

Stein is reporting that Denver's initial offer to Watson was $70M/4. That's so far off what he wanted that I think it's a real possibility he takes the QO. That could come back to haunt him, but we've seen players make bigger mistakes.

If Watson does take the $70M/4 deal, I'd be looking at 3 team trades where Naji goes to Denver to replace Cam Johnson. That would offset most of Watson's starting salary so their tax bill doesn't blow up, and it could allow Dallas to deal for whichever guard they're targeting.