The Nuggets are still waiting on Peyton Watson to recover from a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined for the second time this season since coming out of a game against the Utah Jazz on April 1st.
According to Adam Mares, who covers the Nuggets for All City/DNVR, appearing on "The Dane Moore Podcast," he thinks the Nuggets could be waiting longer than anybody wants to see P-Wat back on the court.
“I don’t expect him back in the series. I think he’s going to miss the entire thing," Mares said about Watson.
Not the update you want to hear from someone who's been at practices lately, but also, we can all just hope Mares is totally wrong and that Watson is closer to returning than not, based on the hope expressed by Nuggets head coach David Adelman.
Adelman said Watson and Spencer Jones did participate in the non-contact portion of practice, and that he "hoped" both could return to the court for game one of the opening round of the playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves. We'll lean on what the coach says on this one and into his hope.
The Nuggets need Watson back for perimeter defensive help
P-Wat has been listed as week-to-week since the injury, and it will be 17 days of rest when the Nuggets take on the Timberwolves in game one. The Nuggets hope he's back early in the series.
Watson has the quickness the Nuggets will need to contain Anthony Edwards on the perimeter. The All-Star had a career scoring year at 28.8 points per game, and Ant-Man shot a career best 48.9% from the floor and 39.9% from three.
Edwards can erupt at any time, and the Nuggets saw that in the 2023-24 playoffs when Edwards scored 43 points in game one and 44 points in game four.
Watson helps the offense greatly, too
Watson blossomed into a standout offensive player this year. Over 15 games in January, filling in for multiple starters, Watson averaged 21.9 points per game on 46% three-point shooting. Watson even won a Player of the Week award, putting up 24.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.8 blocks.
He's an X-factor for the Nuggets, and they could really use him back on the court as soon as possible in the series. Watson wants to get back on court as well, and he has a big reason beyond the Nuggets' playoff run.
Watson's ascension to another level this year puts him squarely in the targets of many suitors as he hits restricted free agency this summer. It's a situation that has the cash-strapped Nuggets between a rock and a hard place.
Add us as a preferred source on Google