It makes sense Peyton Watson is learning on the job.
If not for his NBA career, the 22-year-old could very well be a senior in college. Instead, his promotion to Denver’s starting lineup while Aaron Gordon recovers from a right calf strain is serving as quite the work experience.
“He’s been our starting power forward. Whether he’s starting or coming off the bench, he’s guarding the other team’s best player,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after Thursday’s practice at Ball Arena. “He’s got to start his whole mindset with ‘how do I impact the game from a defensive mindset?”
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That could mean more minutes matched up with Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving on Friday, as Luka Doncic will miss the game with a wrist strain. The season’s first meeting with Dallas, one of Watson’s six starts this season, came with plenty of lessons. Watson split his time defending Doncic, who finished with 24 points on 19 shots, and Irving, who dropped 43 points on 22 attempts. One of Irving’s rare misses was a later 3-pointer that Watson got a fingertip to, helping secure Denver’s two-point win.
So far, the Nuggets are 4-2 with Watson in the starting lineup. The only losses came with Nikola Jokic also out of the starting lineup.
“The team learned, for one, how much responsibility it is to go in there and win ballgames, especially shorthanded. Not having AG for a while now, not having Nikola, I think it was good for us, just to kind of step a little bit out of some of our roles a little bit and help the team win games in different ways,” Watson said. “It forces other guys to step up and kind of be really involved. That’s going to help us down the road. I think depth and staying healthy are the two main things that help teams win. I’m glad that everybody got this opportunity, myself included.”
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Another lesson learned came this offseason. Watson wanted to become a better shooter ahead of his third professional season. So far, he’s taking nearly three 3-pointers per game and hitting at a 37.1% rate despite starting the season 1 for 10 from deep over his first six games, all in a reserve role. He found a way to combat his youth by challenging himself to hit five or seven consecutive shots while working on his jumper.
“I’m not going to say I lose focus, but I’m young. Sometimes if I shoot five shots, four of them will be good and the fifth one, I’ll kick my leg or spin before it goes in, something dumb,” Watson said.
“That’s how I maintain my focus throughout my workouts. I think that’s how I’ve been able to find some consistency to shoot my jumper.”
Watson is in line for a seventh start Friday. That will give him more starts this season than his first two NBA seasons combined. He’s scored in double figures in five or his starts. With the increased playing time, Watson’s on pace to set new career highs in points (9.5), rebounds (3.5) and steals (0.9) per game. That kind of production could be just the start.
“I’m happy about it, definitely not satisfied at all,” Watson said of his start to the season. “The way that I see it is that I feel I’m a really, really good basketball player, and I’m playing all right. So, I got a lot more to come, a lot more to show. For me, it’s just about helping our team win games. I’m glad that my productivity has been helpful in winning us some ball games.”