The Denver Nuggets have reportedly lowered their asking price for free agent wing Peyton Watson. Denver is now looking to receive a high-level player and a first-round draft pick in any potential sign-and-trade. Though that's an intriguing development, the Chicago Bulls can't give in to temptation.
For as promising as Watson may be, the Bulls aren't in a position to trade away draft picks when they don't even know how legitimate their current building blocks are.
Chicago admittedly has good reason to consider pursuing Watson, particularly after building a solid starting lineup with Matas Buzelis, Nic Claxton, Josh Giddey, Norman Powell, and Caleb Wilson. Watson could conceivably bump one of those players to the second unit and thrive as a 3-and-D wing with shot creation potential.
Denver certainly made that possibility more intriguing when Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the franchise had lowered its asking price for Watson in sign-and-trade negotiations.
Shams on Peyton Watson negotiations with the Nuggets:
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) July 28, 2026
"In a potential sign and trade, the Nuggets initially had set a price this off season of similar to the Walker Kessler deal of two first and two swaps in any potential deal. Now that price, my understanding is a really good… pic.twitter.com/9xDiDhiiyr
For as compelling as Watson may be, the limited sample size of his success as a featured player and the uncertainty surrounding Chicago's future combine to make this a trade the Bulls must pass on.
Peyton Watson and the Bulls share a similarity: Uncertainty
Watson, who will turn 24 in September, could conceivably fit with the Bulls' core of young players. Buzelis is 21, Claxton is 27, Giddey is 23, and Wilson is 20, and each project to be able to play off of a player with Watson's skill set.
The unfortunate truth about every one of those players but Claxton, however, is that no one truly knows what type of player they actually are.
Prior to 2025-26, Watson had never averaged more than 8.1 points per game—and he missed 28 outings during his breakthrough season. Giddey looked like a star when he averaged 20.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 9.1 assists on .479/.402/.745 shooting entering Christmas in 2025, but he averaged just 14.0 points on .409/.331/.795 shooting in 27 games after Christmas.
Alongside them, Wilson is an incoming rookie and Buzelis' flashes of two-way potential as a wing are still just that: Flashes, due in no small part to his inconsistency as a shooter.
Bulls aren't one player away—nor do they know who Peyton Watson is
Furthermore, Patrick Williams still has three years and $54 million left on his deal. Considering he's coming off of a season in which he played just 20.5 minutes per game and shot at a clip of .372/.347/.720, it's hard to imagine the Nuggets being willing to take him back in a sign-and-trade revolving around Watson—assuming they can even get under the second apron to be able to do so.
Compounded by the fact that Watson reportedly wants a contract in the range of $25 million per season, Chicago could realistically have to shell out north of $40 million over each of the next three years for he and Williams—not knowing if either can truly return to or sustain their peak production.
With this in mind, the Bulls must resist temptation. They should be protecting their draft picks and adding more young talent to their core until they know who they can realistically build around. Perhaps they already have those players, but they truthfully don't know whether or not they do.
Watson may very well prove worth the asking price, but the Bulls just got past an era in which big contracts for questionable fits derailed their progress. They can't make the same mistake again.
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