With each passing day, it becomes clearer that the Nuggets misplayed their hand this past offseason, extending Christian Braun for five years, $125 million, while barely even negotiating with Peyton Watson, allowing him to play out the final year of his deal and hit restricted free agency this summer.
Braun has had a rough season, which a nasty ankle injury has completely derailed, while Watson has thrived, breaking out as a budding young two-way star. The Nuggets probably could have signed P-Wat to a team-friendly, multi-year deal last fall that would have him in Denver for the next four or five years at a number around $10 million per season, which would already be looking like perhaps the best contract in the entire league.