Denver Nuggets Select UCLA's Peyton Watson in 1st Round of 2022 NBA Draft
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For the first time in three years, a Bruin has heard their name called in Brooklyn.
UCLA men's basketball guard/forward Peyton Watson was selected with the No. 30 overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft on Thursday night. The Oklahoma City Thunder made the selection, but the pick was included in a proposed trade that is slated to send Watson to the Denver Nuggets, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
By coming off the board with the final pick of the opening round, Watson has earned himself a guaranteed contract from Denver.
For all of the success Bruins have had in the NBA over the past few decades, there had not been a UCLA player picked in the first round since Aaron Holiday in 2018, or a player picked at all since Jaylen Hands in 2019.
Watson has broken that streak, and he'll head to the Mile High City to join two-time league MVP Nikola Jokic and young centerpieces Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.
The Nuggets have won at least 46 games in each of the past five seasons with that core. Unless the 19-year-old is stashed the the NBA G League, Watson will have a chance to help his new team improve on their first round exit from this past spring and make their first NBA Finals since 1976.
UCLA – Watson's last stop – has much more championship pedigree, but only made it to the Sweet 16 with Watson on the roster in 2022.
Watson played one season for the Bruins, arriving in Westwood as a consensus five-star recruit and McDonald's All-American. As a freshman, Watson averaged 3.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.6 blocks in 12.7 minutes per game.
Although he did not start a game and saw his playing time wane towards the end of the season, Watson did have his moments – he scored 19 points against Bellarmine in November and recorded eight-plus rebounds and multiple steals and blocks on several occasions.
The 6-foot-8 Long Beach Poly (CA) product was an All-Pac-12 Freshman Honorable Mention and he earned an invite to the NBA Draft Combine in May.
Guards Johnny Juzang and Jules Bernard are the other two Bruins left in the NBA Draft pool, but they are both widely projected to go undrafted.
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