In the late stages of the 2026 NBA free agency cycle, restricted free agent Peyton Watson became the biggest remaining name floating around trade rumors. But that saga comes to a close, despite reported interest and offers from the Milwaukee Bucks, as Denver has signed and traded Watson to Cleveland in a multi-team deal.
ESPN's Shams Charania also reported that Watson had other offers from the Bucks, Trail Blazers and Clippers, but ultimately landed with the Cavaliers after negotiations with the Nuggets and his representatives. Watson's deal was reported at four years, $88 million, which was in the range that many expected the Bucks could offer as well.
Although Watson was the glamorous addition under consideration for Milwaukee, this is a team that already has some business decisions to make with its current roster. Two new additions, Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr., are up for extensions this summer, with almost $75 million in active cap coming off the books next offseason. They're also over the roster limit by two players already, so they'll need to make a few cuts before the season starts.
The Milwaukee Bucks just replenished their asset pool. They were wise not to immediately spend it on a Peyton Watson trade.
Frankly, this has very little to do with Watson himself, but reflects more on the state of the league from a transactional perspective and where the Bucks fall in their organizational lifecycle. Watson is a solid bet in restricted free agency because of his defensive potential, build, and positional versatility, but he's far from a sure thing.
So if the Bucks were to give up a first-round pick without having control of their own draft capital for the next five summers, it'd hamstring them for a player who they cannot guarantee will turn out to be worth the investment. All the while, they have a wealth of players currently under contract who are talented enough to compete for a roster spot and role with the Bucks next season.
Meanwhile, one of the names thrown around in trade rumors as a potential asking price in a Watson trade was Jaquez, the Sixth Man of the Year runner-up. Jaquez averaged more points, rebounds, and assists with a higher field goal percentage in fewer minutes per game than Watson did during the 2025-26 season. So it's safe to say it wouldn't make sense for the Bucks to want to trade Jaquez or draft capital to make this happen when they could invest that same time into developing a more proven young player.
While it would've been exciting to see the Bucks continue the momentum and keep building upon this young core, it's wise not to jump the gun and give up assets faster than you accumulate them. So unless they find some trades to ship off veteran talent and clear another roster spot or two, we could see a quiet rest of the offseason in Milwaukee, following months of rumors, shakeups, and reshaping the future of the franchise.
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