Nuggets make one surprising and two expected roster moves

The Denver Nuggets want Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones back next year — Jalen Pickett? Not so much

Jun 29, 2026, 1:47 PM

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The Denver Nuggets want Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones back next year. Jalen Pickett? Not so much.

In a series of procedural moves Monday, ahead of Tuesday’s leaguewide free agency opening, the Nuggets tendered qualifying offers to Watson and Jones — and let Pickett walk.

Watson’s offer is for $6.5 million, Jones’ for $2.65 million. Neither is expected to accept. Watson’s extension projections, or what he could fetch on the open market, range from $15 million to $30 million a season. Jones could land a deal in line with other defensive-minded role players this week — something like $10 million over three years.

Both can begin negotiating offer sheets with other teams Tuesday evening.

The Pickett problem

Pickett is on his way out of Denver — and maybe out of the league. The 6-foot-2 guard spent three seasons with the Nuggets after going No. 32 in the 2023 draft out of Penn State. He had his moments, including a 29-point night in Philadelphia this season against former MVP Joel Embiid in a shorthanded win and a triple-double during his sophomore season.

But Pickett may be best remembered as a flash point in the cold war between coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth. The front office boss, a Penn State man himself, believed in Pickett and tried to force him onto the floor — even dealing Reggie Jackson to clear a path. Malone, meanwhile, preferred undrafted rookie Collin Gillespie, who just inked a four-year, $48 million deal with Phoenix.

Across 126 games in Denver, Pickett averaged 4 points, 1.9 assists and 1.6 rebounds on 43% shooting and 39% from deep. He never caught on, logging just 13 playoff appearances, mostly in garbage time.

He’s a serviceable third-string guard who was set to make less than the league minimum — which is what makes cutting him a mild surprise.

Waiting on Watson

Watson’s breakout was derailed by a hamstring injury that nagged him from training camp on. It flared Feb. 4 — and he was never the same. He returned for five games, re-aggravated it, then missed the playoff push and the postseason.

When healthy, he was electric: 14.9 points on 49.6% shooting and 41.7% from deep. His 53% on corner triples ranked sixth in the NBA among players with at least 1,000 minutes. His athleticism, defense and tertiary scoring were sorely missed in Denver’s first-round loss to Minnesota.

But there’s a pattern. Watson was hurt late in 2024-25, too, and never found his rhythm. In four seasons, he’s played just 303 playoff minutes — a real risk as the Nuggets weigh nearly nine figures on a player who hasn’t yet consistently moved the needle in the postseason.

The hangup isn’t whether Denver wants Watson. It’s whether the Kroenkes will eat the tax to keep him. KSE ducked the tax at the deadline, with Josh Kroenke noting the team got cheaper without getting worse — though it also didn’t get better, in a title window. Dipping under the line again resets the repeat-tax penalty. There’s no roster-building downside to paying it; it’s just a hit to KSE’s bottom line.

ESPN has reported “the belief around the league is that Cameron Johnson (on an expiring $23 million deal) or Christian Braun (on a five-year, $125 million extension signed in the fall) is likely to be moved to create enough room” to pay Watson. Aaron Gordon and, more recently, Jamal Murray have come up too. But Kroenke has talked about running it back — which would push the team’s bill well north of $400 million.

Jones’ing for a deal

Then there’s Jones, the 6-foot-7 forward who signed a two-year, two-way deal as an undrafted free agent out of Stanford.

After 20 mostly garbage-time games as a rookie, Jones came back last year with an edge — and it stuck. He became a rotation regular for David Adelman, starting 37 games as Denver weathered injuries to Watson and Gordon and hunted for defense anywhere it could find it.

He was good enough that the Nuggets needed him past the 50-game two-way cap and wanted him eligible for the playoffs. Denver tried to negotiate a full-time deal to make that happen; when talks stalled, the team converted him to a standard contract — making him a restricted free agent now that he’s been tendered.

In 64 games at 22 minutes a night, Jones averaged 5.5 points and 3.3 rebounds, shot near 40% from deep and brought the defensive bite Denver lacked. He played all six playoff games, started three with Gordon banged up, and dropped 20 in a season-saving Game 5.