With money on the line, Peyton Watson has been money from the 3-point line.
The fourth-year Nuggets wing was 64% from the corners on a team-leading 25 attempts this season, entering their NBA Cup clash with the Spurs on Friday. He has registered the two highest-scoring games of his career in the last two weeks (32 and 27 points), since taking over for the injured Christian Braun in Denver’s starting lineup.
Those scoring flourishes aren’t even the reason Watson received his temporary promotion. “His special gift,” coach David Adelman said, “is the way he guards.” But when a player is in a contract year, it doesn’t hurt to cash in on the increased playing time by making some 3s.
“Hunting those looks,” Watson said. “They’re high-percentage looks for me. So anytime I can make some space for myself in that corner or just kind of get in Joker or Jamal’s periphery so they can see me and find me in those spots, it’s been great for me. It’s just something that I’ve repped out and I know I have to be elite with, especially with this team and the way we space the floor with Joker playing with his back to the basket.
“It just makes my job easier if I’m making those shots. It makes their job easier as well.”
While Watson’s stock has been on the rise, he has also made a notable business decision with next summer in mind. The 23-year-old changed representation earlier this month from Excel Sports Management to Klutch Sports Group, the mega-agency founded and overseen by Rich Paul, LeBron James’ longtime friend and agent.
“There’s a big opportunity at hand this year for me in general on the court, and that’s something that I’ve been taking the most seriously,” he said when asked about the change. “At the end of the day, (playing well) is just going to make my agent’s job — whoever my agent is — easier.”
The Nuggets have had several Excel clients on their current and recent rosters, including Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Two seasons ago, Watson co-starred with Jokic in a series of commercials for a hotel booking website in a gig made possible by their shared representation.
But he also has a past relationship with Klutch. Watson, who’s from Los Angeles and played one season at UCLA, said that Paul represented him in college while NCAA athletes were gaining the right to profit on their name, image and likeness.
Despite the more pronounced connection between the Nuggets and Excel, Watson is not necessarily alienating himself with the change. Starting power forward Aaron Gordon is also a client of an agent who works for Klutch.
“I just decided to go with Excel to start my NBA career. Excel did nothing but great things for me,” Watson said. “Super supportive. It was just more so a business decision on our side. It’s something that we’re happy with because of the support that Klutch shows. Just the love, the attention to detail is really next level. We’re excited to be able to start that path. … But nothing but love to my previous agent.”
Watson will be a restricted free agent next summer after he and the Nuggets were unable to agree to terms on a contract extension before this season. It’s a mechanism in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement that traditionally favors the incumbent team. Watson’s path to joining a new team without a sign-and-trade will require him to sign an offer sheet, the terms of which Denver has the opportunity to match.
But the Nuggets may not want to retain him, depending on what it would mean for their roster payroll. Watson told The Denver Post last month that Denver’s preference to stay out of the second tax apron factored into its decision not to extend him during the window to do so. After Braun signed a five-year, $125 million deal, any subsequent extension for Watson would’ve made the Nuggets a projected second-apron team for 2026-27.
Those failed negotiations have been the backdrop for Watson’s impressive start to the season. With both Braun and Gordon sidelined by injuries for the next few weeks, Watson will not only continue to start, he’ll also be relied on to finish plays more frequently in a lineup anchored by Jokic, the best passer in the sport.
“He’s always been such a willing learner,” Murray said. “And goes out there with passion. As he gets more comfortable taking that many shots and seeing the ball go through the hoop, it’s just going to unlock his game.”
When he’s not spacing in one of the corners — opponents have not caught up to his percentage yet, as they often help off of him — Watson can be worked into the offense as a screener and cutter in Denver’s split game.
That’s not where his primary burden is, though. The Nuggets need lockdown defenders. Especially without Braun and Gordon.
“He’s got really tough responsibilities, matchups every night against guys who are paid a lot of money because they’re really good,” Adelman said. “That’s going to be his job. If he can score and pass and make plays offensively, that’s the cherry on top. I expect him to bring great energy defensively and rebound the ball.”
Watson is averaging a career-high 4.8 boards per game in addition to his other contributions. His 32-point performance last week in New Orleans was also his first NBA double-double.
Make no mistake: Watson has been pleased with himself. But Denver’s recent home losses to Chicago and Sacramento are also stuck in his craw.
“I think we’ve lost some more games than I would’ve liked to with me in the lineup,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I just always think about where I came from. It was a grind to get into the lineup. It was a grind to make my name in this NBA. But it’s just been a journey.”