There's been a lot said about Peyton Watson's absence from the Denver Nuggets' first-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. It turns out that in the end, Watson made the best call for himself and even the Nuggets. But now that he's shared his side of the story in an interview with Michael Porter Jr. on MPJ's podcast, Curious Mike, it certainly raises a question about the Nuggets' approach to injury rehab. Are they rushing players back too soon?
That's the first thought that comes to mind after Watson cleared the air about how injured he truly was after he sustained a grade 2 hamstring strain against the Utah Jazz with only two games left before the playoffs began. Watson said that he was only "75%" when the Nuggets took on the Timberwolves. That's not near the 100% a player should be when they return. And it was 75% on the same hamstring that Watson had initially injured nearly two months earlier.
The Nuggets were in too much of a hurry
Watson described what he felt caused the re-aggravation. The Nuggets were too antsy to get him back on the court.
"I remember it was like a four-to six-week timeline. And like two or three weeks in my rehab, I felt like they were ramping me back up too quickly," Watson said.
He described playing with the coaches and players who aren't members of the regular rotation when he "tweaked" it again, causing him to be on the back end of the initial rehab timeline. It was Feb. 4th against the New York Knicks that the original injury occurred. Watson didn't make his return until March 22nd. The reaggravation of his injury occurred on April 1st. It was another grade 2 injury,
But Watson described a "pressure" to return to be playoff-ready. Sure, the Nuggets desperately needed his defense on the court, but they needed his defense on the court at 100%. And since Watson wasn't 100%, it makes sense that Rich Paul told him to sit out to "protect" himself. MPJ concurred with the thinking.
The Nuggets need to take their time this season with rehab
The Nuggets had a myriad of injuries last season. However, they need to slow down the rehab process and the ramping-up process. Not only did Watson re-injure the same hamstring, but so did Aaron Gordon. And Christian Braun came back too early from his ankle sprain. Why the rush?
Gordon initially missed 19 games after straining his right hamstring on Nov. 21st. He returned on Jan. 4th, but re-injured the same right hamstring on Jan. 23rd and didn't return until March 6th.
Braun sprained his left ankle on Nov. 12th and missed 23 games, also returning on Jan. 4th alongside Gordon. But Braun only appeared in three games before exiting the lineup after a disastrous 0-point showing on Jan. 9th. He went on to miss 12 more games before returning on Feb. 3rd. The reason Braun exited the lineup again? He wasn't ready to return from his ankle sprain and needed more time to heal.
Could each of them have returned a couple of games later and avoided the extra stretch of games missed? We won't know. But it begs the question. Are the Nuggets rushing their players back too soon?
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