At the moment, the Denver Nuggets are caught between a rock and a hard place.
Thanks to a standstill in contract negotiations with promising young forward and restricted free agent Peyton Watson, Denver can’t exactly move forward with finalizing its roster for next season. Not until the Watson situation gets a meaningful resolution. That means, for the time being, the Nuggets probably won’t be making any other trades or exploring earnest deals that could benefit the franchise. They don’t want to hamstring themselves without clarity.
Take Cam Johnson’s unique situation, for example. The sharpshooting forward is on an expiring deal and only just turned 30. He could credibly be seen as Denver’s best trade asset, particularly to any contender or ascending team that wants to add a smart, winning player with a good shot. Or, in the event the Nuggets actually execute a sign-and-trade with Watson (which doesn’t seem likely right now), Johnson becomes that much more valuable to keeping a contention window open in the middle of Nikola Jokić’s prime. Of course, Denver could also simply keep Watson and Johnson and go for the 2027 NBA title in an “all-in” type of season. That seems like a more feasible reality by the day.
So, is it any surprise to learn the Nuggets are still rebuffing trade offers for Johnson right now? C’mon now. They don’t even know what they want to or what they can do with their roster yet!
𝑵𝑬𝑾𝑺: Nuggets have “rebuffed” trade calls for Cam Johnson, per @MikeAScotto
“Numerous teams have called the Denver Nuggets hoping they’d be willing to dump forward Cam Johnson, who’s owed $23.06 million in the final year of his contract.” pic.twitter.com/buqawrvgaK
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) July 22, 2026
At the risk of oversimplifying this situation, there is another theory as to why this report comes out now, in late July, with the Nuggets also actively entangled with Watson and his people.
The Nuggets might be putting out a public feeler for Johnson trade negotiations
In the NBA, there is almost always a reason reports like this Johnson one get “leaked” out. Note how said report never mentions the Nuggets won’t trade Johnson, just that they’ve been rebuffing ongoing trade calls for him. That, to me, sounds like they’re very open to dealing away the talented forward, but they haven’t liked the offers they’ve gotten for him to this stage. They could be using this as a strategic leak to try and tell prospective suitors for Johnson to up the ante.
Do the Nuggets have a deadline to resolve the Watson situation?
Technically speaking, yes, but it’s still a ways off. Because the Nuggets have already extended a qualifying offer to Watson, he now has until October 1st to sign it and stay for at least one more year in Denver, or try to find a team that will give him the money he wants while making Denver too uncomfortable to match any possible contract offer. Until then, no one seems to be in any major rush.
For now, Watson and the Nuggets are like two bulls with locked horns.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Why are the Nuggets rebuffing trade offers for Cam Johnson?
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