{"id":855795,"date":"2026-09-21T20:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T20:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/855795\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T20:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T20:00:12","slug":"do-nuggets-have-enough-wings-to-replace-peyton-watson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/855795\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Nuggets have enough wings to replace Peyton Watson?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the days leading up to Nuggets training camp, The Denver Post will break down each position group on the 2026-27 roster. Here\u2019s a look at the team\u2019s wing depth, which the front office attempted to bolster this offseason despite the loss of Peyton Watson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Small forward<\/p>\n

Starter:\u00a0Cam Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n

Backup:\u00a0DeMar DeRozan<\/a><\/p>\n

Third-string:\u00a0Alpha Diallo<\/a>, Cam Whitmore<\/a> (two-way), Bryce Hopkins<\/a> (two-way)\n<\/p>\n

The Nuggets might not be able to replace Watson\u2019s full skill set. What they can do is try to recreate him in the aggregate. They signed DeRozan to restock on the bucket-getting talent Watson flashed last season. They took a flier on Diallo, a EuroLeague journeyman, to replicate Watson\u2019s on-ball perimeter defense. They drafted Trevon Brazile in the second round for rim protection and verticality at a non-center position. For good measure, they scooped up Cam Whitmore on a two-way contract last Friday to supply more youth, athleticism and scoring potential. They\u2019re paying those four players a combined $5.2 million against the salary cap, as opposed to the $20.5 million that Watson will make in his first season as a Cavalier.<\/p>\n

DeRozan has been scrutinized plenty over the years for his flaws \u2014 shot diet, spacing, defense \u2014 but most NBA teams would take him on a veteran minimum contract in a heartbeat. The Nuggets clearly want to lean on him to carry their offense when Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray need rest. The more fascinating and mysterious element of DeRozan\u2019s fit in Denver will be how often he shares the court with Jokic and how he\u2019s used in those minutes. Can the big man develop unlikely chemistry with another aging future Hall of Famer, as he did with Russell Westbrook two seasons ago?<\/p>\n

Diallo is a total wild card as a 29-year-old NBA rookie, but if he can carve out a role in David Adelman\u2019s everyday rotation, it would do wonders for Denver\u2019s regular-season depth. The Nuggets will probably want to play fast when he\u2019s on the floor; the biggest question is where he fits in their half-court sets. He shot 35.5% from 3-point range for AS Monaco<\/a>. Assuming he\u2019s treated as a non-shooter upon arrival to the NBA, can he knock down 3s at a similar clip against faster close-outs? Denver desperately needs what he brings defensively, perhaps enough to put up with some offensive growing pains.<\/p>\n

Johnson is entering a contract year without an extension in place, for now. The next step for him is to raise his aggressiveness as both a shooter and driver. \u201cWe\u2019re telling him to do what he does best, man,\u201d Tim Hardaway Jr. said last season. \u201cBe that Brooklyn Net Cam that you were out there, averaging 17, 18 a game.\u201d He averaged 12 in his first year as a Nugget, shooting 43% from deep on 4.7 attempts per game \u2014 a healthy volume that still has room to increase. With a better feel for the unorthodox offense around him, Johnson might be poised to shed his deferential tendencies a bit more this season.<\/p>\n

Power forward<\/p>\n

Starter:\u00a0Aaron Gordon<\/a><\/p>\n

Backup:\u00a0Spencer Jones<\/a><\/p>\n

Third-string:\u00a0Zeke Nnaji<\/a>, Trevon Brazile<\/a><\/p>\n

Warding off the Oklahoma City Thunder to keep Jones in restricted free agency was a big win for the Nuggets this summer, its importance amplified by Watson\u2019s eventual sign-and-trade. Jones and DeRozan will be Adelman\u2019s two most trusted bench players (assuming no changes to the starting lineup), making the forward group Denver\u2019s deepest on paper. Jones is pure 3-and-D, an occasionally overzealous ball hawk whose new challenge is to stay physical but tone down the fouling. Ironically, one of his most formative experiences last year was against DeRozan<\/a>, who tricked him into leaving his feet and committing a costly foul at the end of a close game vs. Sacramento.<\/p>\n

Jones will rarely put the ball on the floor at the offensive end, but his 39.6% 3-point clip last season was more than enough to convince Denver to match a two-year, $12 million offer sheet. One of the strangest shooting forms in the NBA isn\u2019t leaving Ball Arena any time soon.<\/p>\n

Gordon\u2019s season will be graded largely on his availability. His two-way impact when he\u2019s on the court needs no explaining<\/a>. The Nuggets were five points per 100 possessions better at both ends when he played last season. But the 82-game slog has taken its toll on Gordon for two consecutive years, leaving him compromised for the most important games on the calendar. If and when he\u2019s out? Minutes could be available to Nnaji, who usually supplies one encouraging stretch of play per season, only to fade back into obscurity. At the very least, he\u2019s a switchable big, which isn\u2019t all that common. Denver will want to capitalize on any chance to boost his trade value. Brazile is entering the fold as well, but it\u2019s not often that a second-round pick is instantly game-ready at the pro level.<\/p>\n

The Nuggets could also use DaRon Holmes II as a backup four \u2014 they\u2019ve spent some time teaching him the dunker spot over the last year \u2014 but the pick-and-pop has been his best weapon early in his career. Given Denver\u2019s surplus of wings who can play the four, Holmes seems more likely to slot into a competition for backup center minutes.<\/p>\n

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the days leading up to Nuggets training camp, The Denver Post will break down each position group…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":855796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[3832,1840,1753,4142,2558,355,99],"class_list":["post-855795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-colorado","tag-denver","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-front-range","tag-latest-headlines","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}