The Nets Have $25 Million to Spend. They Probably Won’t Use It on Peyton Watson.

The Brooklyn Nets have cap space. A lot of it. Around $25 million worth, which is a big number in a league where most teams are counting pennies this summer. Naturally, that got people wondering: would they throw an offer sheet at Peyton Watson, the 23-year-old wing who just broke out for the Nuggets?

Probably not, according to Jake Fischer. The Nets are being described as a “conceptual suitor” at best. That’s insider-speak for “they could theoretically do it but nobody actually expects them to.” As of Tuesday morning, league sources told Fischer it’s hard to find any serious contenders for Watson outside the Los Angeles Clippers.

Watson’s camp is looking for something north of $25 million per year. Denver has the right to match any offer, and they’ve said they’ll do it. But there’s also chatter about a potential sign-and-trade, which Sam Amick of The Athletic reported as a possibility. So the door isn’t completely shut.

Would Watson even fit in Brooklyn? On one hand, sure. He’s a legit perimeter defender and his offensive game took a real step forward last season. He shot 41.1 percent from three, which is excellent. But the volume was low — only 3.6 attempts per game. And 61.4 percent of those threes were wide open, meaning he was standing alone because defenses had to worry about Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. For context, only 34.5 percent of Egor Demin’s threes came with that much space. That split matters.

Then there’s the roster crunch. Brooklyn’s projected starting lineup already has Mikel Brown Jr. and Demin in the backcourt, with Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle at the forward spots. There’s no clear starting job for Watson. And it’s hard to see a 23-year-old with a breakout season under his belt signing on for bench minutes, especially when he’s looking at a nine-figure payday.

So where does that leave him? Most signs point back to Denver or out to Los Angeles. The Clippers are in the middle of a roster shuffle and have shown real interest. The Nets have the cash, but they don’t seem to have the appetite. If they’re spending that cap space, it probably won’t be on a restricted free agent who might just get matched anyway.