Before the season started, the Denver Nuggets signed Christian Braun to an extension, but not Peyton Watson. The team didn't want to enter the second luxury tax, so Watson is set to become a restricted free agent this summer. Denver can match any offer sheet the 23-year-old receives from other teams, but that doesn't mean he won't be on the way out.
It's yet another unfortunate aspect of the collective bargaining agreement: teams that enter the second apron face several harsh penalties, such as not being able to aggregate salaries in trades and being unable to trade first-round picks seven years out.