The Denver Nuggets entered the offseason wanting to keep Peyton Watson, but with negotiations stalled and the wing wanting more money than the team was willing to pay, they sent him to Cleveland in a sign-and-trade. Although they received an unprotected first-round pick in return, they were criticized for it because it meant giving up on a young, talented player.
One of the biggest knocks against the Nuggets through their first five games is their lack of spacing, which is even more glaring with Cam Johnson out. Last season, Watson shot 41.1 percent on 3.6 attempts per game for Denver, so it's reasonable to think that, if he were still in town, he'd help in that category. But not when you look at how he's shot the ball from deep with the Cavaliers.
Watson is shooting 14.3 percent from three (3-for-21) on 4.2 attempts per game for Cleveland. He's had three games this season in which he's missed every attempt from beyond the arc, including the Cavaliers' 114-111 loss to the Hawks on Thursday, when he shot 0-for-3 from deep (and 1-for-8 overall) for four points in 22 minutes.
Peyton Watson isn't shooting the ball well
Watson built his case for his four-year, $88 million contract with the Cavaliers in January, when he averaged 21.9 points on 46.2% shooting from three in 15 games. As Andy Bailey highlighted over the summer, after subtracting that month from his career stats, his numbers dropped to 7.7 points on 34.2 percent shooting from deep.
That doesn't take away from what Watson did in January to help keep the Nuggets afloat as injuries piled up, before he unfortunately got hurt himself. It helps paint a picture of what Denver was thinking about over the offseason when it let him go, and the player Cleveland envisioned when it traded for him.
Watson is still figuring things out with the Cavaliers, and he's already made his impact with his versatility and energy, especially on defense. But he hasn't found his three-point shot, and it's worth wondering whether he'll become a true threat from deep like he was with Denver in January. Shooting over 40 percent from three throughout a full season may not be realistic for him.
There will inevitably be times when Nuggets fans wish Watson were still around (if you haven't felt that way already), but if his hot shooting midway through last season was a fluke, it will be a little easier to justify Denver letting him go.
And of course, it helps that rookie Trevon Brazile is already fitting in nicely as a Watson replacement, and at a much lower cost. He's shooting 33.3 percent from deep, which is closer to his college mark (35.1 percent), and that number should improve with time, as it did with P-Wat. Again, it's another small sample size, but it looks like Brazile could be a better shooter, and sooner.
It's far too early to say that Denver is 100 percent better without Watson, but if you're looking for a few positives, you can find them.
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