Ranking the Denver Nuggets’ trade assets

1 – Peyton Watson

With the 30th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, the Denver Nuggets traded with the Oklahoma City Thunder to get Peyton Watson out of UCLA. His stats in college were pretty poor, as he only averaged 3.3 points on 32.2 percent shooting from the field. Watson was a very interesting prospect when he came into the draft. The talent and potential were there, but his floor was really low, and drafting him was a low-risk, high-reward pick.

The RSCI rankings for the 2021 graduating class had Watson as the 8th ranked college recruit, which was ahead of players like San Antonio’s Malaki Branham, Jeremy Sochan, Atlanta’s Kobe Bufkin, and New Orleans’ Jordan Hawkins.

Compared to his college stats, Watson was a lot more efficient in the NBA. He shot 49.2 percent from the field and an astonishing 42.9 percent from beyond the arc. Yes, he did only shoot 0.6 3-pointers per game, but he did only play 8.1 minutes per night in 23 total games.

He might get more playing time this season, or he might even get sent down to the G-League to progress there. His potential, as well as his future, is up in the air as of now. He could be a future All-Star, depending on his playing time and progression, but he could also be out of the league in a few seasons.

The Denver Nuggets still would like to compete for an NBA championship next season, and maybe that will have to come at the expense of trading away some young talent. It will be interesting to see how their young players play this season, as well as see how they progress throughout their careers.

Whether the Nuggets ship off their younger assets or not, they should still be one of the best teams in the Western Conference.