The Los Angeles Lakers have been linked to Denver Nuggets wing Peyton Watson for months. Watson is entering restricted free agency, and he's the prototype 3-and-D wing that the Lakers need to add around Luka Doncic.
Watson, however, won't be easy to pry away from Denver. It's not like the Lakers are in a position to give Watson a blank-check offer and laugh as the Nuggets walk away from the situation. The Lakers have their own cap-space problems to sort through amid new deals for Austin Reaves and (possibly) LeBron James.
Peyton Watson might not be the right Nuggets wing for Lakers
The above situation makes Watson too expensive a player for the Lake Show to absorb, even though he's the best basketball fit. A more realistic (and more financially sound) route for the Lakers would be to trade for one of Watson's two fellow wings on the Nuggets—Christian Braun or Cam Johnson.
Braun's $21.6 million cap hit and Johnson's $23.1 million cap hit are both lower figures than what Watson is expected to land in free agency, not to mention that the Lakers would be sending money out to acquire either Braun or Johnson via trade.
NBA insider Sam Vecenie even noted during a recent Game Theory podcast episode that the Lakers could use Braun and/or Johnson as leverage pawns against the Nuggets in a pursuit of Watson. For example, the Lakers could set up a trade for Braun while simultaneously threatening to offer Watson a huge offer, placing the Nuggets in a compromising spot. This would essentially be the Lakers communicating to Denver, We'll take Braun and force you to match our Watson offer. The same strategy could be used with Johnson.
The Lakers value Watson more than either Braun or Johnson, but it's not like those latter two guys aren't rotational wings in the NBA with value on both sides of the ball. Braun is significantly smaller and can't guard big forwards, but he's a hyper-athletic guard/small wing who can certainly compete defensively against other guards and most wings.
Johnson, meanwhile, had a thorny season with the Nuggets (never looking comfortable), but his entire career points to a guy who can knock down 3s consistently and guard multiple positions with his favorable size and athleticism.
Lakers need to figure out Marcus Smart situation before knowing how to proceed with Nuggets wings
Marcus Smart is probably going to opt out of his player option and enter free agency. If the Lakers estimate that they won't be able to re-sign Smart, Braun makes some sense as a trade target. On the other hand, if Smart does return, Johnson and his size would make more sense for LA. There's still the possibility that Rob Pelinka does some gymnastics to be able to afford Watson, too, but that doesn't look feasible right now.
Add us as a preferred source on Google