Peyton Watson prioritizing progress over payday from Denver Nuggets: ‘P-Wat is moving different’

LA JOLLA, Calif. — An offseason gamble has paid off for Peyton Watson at training camp. Whether it’s rewarded with a payday will be determined.

Watson and others in the NBA’s 2022 draft class became eligible for extensions on their rookie contracts this summer, but there’s an Oct. 20 deadline. Some players opt to protect their most valuable asset — their health — in such situations. Watson went the other way.

“The emphasis of my offseason was just playing as much as possible,” Watson told The Denver Gazette during camp at UC San Diego. “When I play a lot as opposed to just work out all summer or be in LA, it just brings me back to who I truly am as a basketball player.”

Individual drills have their place, especially when it comes to getting up a high volume of shots in a short period of time, but Watson felt like his other skills and feel are best improved in game-like situations. The results have been a talking point of training camp.

“’P-Wat’ is moving different,” Aaron Gordon said unprompted after Thursday’s practice.

So, what does moving different look like?

“Just his shot-making ability, I think his pace to the game, yeah, he’s picking his spots. He’s doing it on both ends. P-Wat is hooping,” Gordon explained.

“P-Wat is doing his thing.”

Denver Nuggets guard Peyton Watson heads into an NBA basketball media day news conference Monday, Sept. 29, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Through the first few days of training camp, Watson was part of Denver’s second unit alongside Bruce Brown, Julian Strawther, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valanciunas. Watson and Strawther are the only returners from last year’s team.

“Peyton’s been a bright spot,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said Thursday. “I think the best compliment you give somebody is he’s played like a professional basketball player. He’s been that all three days.”

For all that group brings to the table, Brown is the closest thing to a true point guard. That’s hardly been his primary role for most of his NBA career, though he did prove to be capable in his first stint with the Nuggets a few years ago. Watson’s ability to take on some of that responsibility has impressed his new coach.

“Peyton’s been really good. He’s been really responsible with the ball. He’s had the ball in his hands a lot with the second unit, and he’s made really sound decisions. That’s what we’re looking for,” Adelman said. “Sometimes guys go into the summer, and they want to show off whatever dribbling mechanics they’ve mastered, and he’s played in straight lines. When you do that, you can be a playmaker, and, obviously, we know what he can do on the defensive end.”

The 23-year-old already feels like one of the game’s elite defenders. The addition of Valanciunas, Watson believes, will allow him to play more aggressively on that end whether it’s picking up his defenders higher up the court or being even more of an on-ball pest.

“In previous years, I think I was kind of playing it safe, because I was our rim protection and our perimeter defender, so I kind of just had it my head that I’ve got to give guys a little bit of room or a little bit of cushion so that if I do get beat I can still meet them at the rim as well.” Watson said. “I think just having a big body like Val this year is definitely going to allow me to step out of my comfort zone a little bit more and pick those guys up higher and have a little bit of a resistance on my back line to help out.”

The additional on-ball responsibility is more of a return to the norm than it is new. Watson waited for the growth spurt that took him to his listed 6-foot-7 until his junior year of high school, so he’s spent most of his basketball career on the perimeter despite playing both forward positions early in his NBA career. It was important for him to show Denver’s new coaching staff this summer he was ready to expand his game against NBA defenders, even if that came with a risk that could be measured in millions of dollars.

“People forewarned me about it and just staying healthy, because getting injured and being unhealthy could affect my money that I get or whatever the contract is,” Watson said.

“I played cautiously, but at the same time I think you get injured more when you’re not playing, when you’re not prepared for what’s to come. I think just training my body hard and practicing harder than I play is going to set me up to be durable in the long run and just show them that I’m out here with no ego. I’m out here playing, and I’m here for the team. I’m here to get better. I want to learn from these coaches.  Everything has been good.”

***

Playing five-on-five was the focus, but there was still time for fine tuning. When Watson was back in Los Angeles, he continued to work with Dorell Wright, who had an 11-year NBA career. Wright shot 36% or better from 3-point range in five of his final six NBA seasons.

“He’s always kind of been a big-brother figure, somebody that I know I can tap in with. He’ll give me advice, tell me how he sees the game from a player’s perspective,” Watson said.

“This summer was the first summer I really, really locked in with him. I had worked out with him when I was in college at UCLA when I was struggling to find myself and find what my role was on that team. …This summer we really locked in and honed in on a few things with my shot.”

Denver Nuggets’ Peyton Watson shakes hands with Colorado Rockies’ Kyle Karros after throwing out the first pitch before a baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

The same wingspan that helps Watson on the defensive end complicates his shooting mechanics on the other. There’s more room for error, Watson has said. Wright and Watson worked to remove any unnecessary motion or dip with the ball as he gets into his shot in hopes of continuing a positive trend. Watson improved his 3-point percentage from 29.6% in his second NBA season to 35.3% last season. He shot 36.8% in his most extensive playoff action last season.

“I can’t say enough good things about him,” Watson said of Wright.

“The attention to detail was on another level this summer.”

***

It wasn’t all work all the time.

Watson singled out time with family in friends in Los Angeles and a trip to Hawaii with his girlfriend as the non-basketball highlights of his offseason. He also attended a few concerts with the standouts being Chris Brown at Coors Field, a Lil Baby show and an NBA YoungBoy show that was “a spectacle, to say the least.”

Now, he’s ready for more work.

“I definitely got my fair share of work and pleasure in,” Watson said. “I’m just ready for this thing to be back starting. I love basketball.”

***

Only four members of the 2022 draft class have inked big extensions a couple of weeks before the deadline.

Paolo Banchero, the No. 1 pick in the class, signed a five-year extension worth $239 million. Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren, the second pick, and Jalen Williams, the No. 12 pick, signed deals identical to Banchero after helping the Thunder to the championship. The fourth pick in the draft, Jabari Smith Jr., got a five-year, $122 million extension.

Other key pieces like Detroit’s Jalen Duren, Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels, Indiana’s Bennedict Mathurin, Utah’s Walker Kessler and one of Watson’s teammates remain without extensions.

“There’s a lot of really, really good guys that haven’t signed extensions in my class,” Watson said. “Guys with accolades, guys who had good years last year, including my teammate (and) right-hand man Christian Braun.”

***

The Nuggets have established a reputation for extending their guys in recent years, but a lot has changed since Michael Porter Jr. and Zeke Nnaji’s extensions largely limited Denver’s options.

First, the new collective bargaining agreement with more punitive aprons for the top-spending teams. There’s also a new front-office structure responsible for determining just how much Braun and Watson are worth to the franchise. Many are projecting Braun to receive an extension offer in the neighborhood of $25 million annually. Add that to the combined $164 million the Nuggets owe to Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Cam Johnson next season, and Denver’s on the verge of the second apron, something many teams have worked to avoid.

The only player drafted in the final five picks of the 2022 first round, like Watson, to agree to an extension was Miami’s Nikola Jovic. The Heat and the Serbian forward reached a four-year extension worth $62.4 million.

Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson (8) shoots as Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chet Holmgren, left, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and Alex Caruso, right, look on in the first half of Game 7 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

If the Nuggets don’t reach a contract extension with Watson before the season starts, he and every other player from his draft class in a similar situation will become restricted free agents next summer. That means teams with more cap space could sign him to a deal the Nuggets might not be willing, or able, to match, especially if his training camp breakout translates to the regular season.

“For me, it’s just always been implemented in my brain to just let my play do the talking, let my production do the talking. Everything else will work itself out,” Watson said. “I’ve had an amazing training camp, and if anything, it’s only helping me. I’m excited for what’s going on, and I’m excited for my future with this team.”