He started the year on the bench, but because he's now a "real contributor," he came "out of nowhere." And Draymond Green says that's why Peyton Watson's going to end up putting the Nuggets in a tough spot to re-sign him this offseason. Nuggets fans have heard all the rumors. They'd like to forget about the problem.
Draymond Green was handing out awards for the month of January on the latest edition of his podcast, The Draymond Green Show, and it was Watson who he essentially deemed the best player to graduate from a bench role into an integral part of the lineup.
Watson came "out of nowhere," and Green highlights his 21.9 points per game in the month while Nikola Jokic was out with an injury as a big reason why he was chosen. "Joker went down with an injury, and he stepped his game up," Green said.
But it was Green's comments about this coming offseason's looming headache to re-sign the restricted free-agent Watson that would get Nuggets fans' attention.
"He has put Denver in a real situation," Green said. Green continued, "Peyton Watson will be one of the most touted free agents. He’s going to get a big payday this year, and it’s going to be well deserved."
Big payday. Those are the words for Nuggets fans to fear. It's no secret Denver's already projected to be well over the luxury tax threshold next year. Matching an offer for Watson without making any meaningful move would almost certainly put the Nuggets well past the second apron tax, too.
That's not a great situation to be in when you're trying to keep a budding young star. Watson has become a viable third scoring option alongside Jokic and Jamal Murray. Nuggets fans hope they get to see that pan out for a few years, at least.
Draymond wasn't done heaping praise on Watson
Draymond said he'd had an eye on P-Wat since he did a draft promo with the Warriors a few years ago. He said as he'd watched Watson over the years, "You can kind of see that he was special."
Everyone in the league seems to be in agreement with that assessment. Which is going to help drive the price of Watson's contract offers higher than the Nuggets would want to see. And it's what keeps popping up as a reminder to Nuggets fans about a problem we already know about.
Peyton Watson is special. And he is going to be difficult to re-sign.