Draymond Green Gives Major Shout Out to Nuggets' Peyton Watson

While his career-best campaign was put on pause for a brief moment in the second half of the regular season with a hamstring injury, Peyton Watson has still turned out to be one of the Denver Nuggets' biggest bright spots of their last five months.

In the 58 games he's played so far this season, Watson's averaging career-high numbers across the board with 14.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists a night, paired with some efficient shooting splits of 49.0% from the field and 41.9% from three, along with some standout abilities on the defensive end.

That type of production hasn't just captured the attention from those in Denver, but also those around the league as well–– particularly Golden State Warriors' forward Draymond Green, who spoke extremely highly of the Nuggets wing on the latest episode of The Draymond Green Show.

"Peyton Watson has gotten so much better," Green said. "Don't be surprised at the emergence of Peyton Watson... He clearly has a high-level processor. When you have a high-level processor in this league, it's an advantage. It's very understated, but a very big advantage."

"What we've seen now is the tip of the iceberg. He ain't even scratched the surface yet. Peyton Watson is going to be an elite NBA player."

Green even went as far as to consider Watson to be a potential All-Star-level player––a peak that might not even be that far-fetched if he were able to get back to the numbers he showed back in January while Nikola Jokic was out with his hyperextended knee.

"Shout out to Peyton Watson," Green continued. "It's beautiful to watch the growth of his game and I've enjoyed watching it since seeing him in pre-draft workout, seeing how he went to got it. (...) He's about to get rewarded."

"So y'all keep an eye out for Peyton Watson. That kid is going to be an All-Star, no questions asked."

Draymond Green Gives Flowers to Peyton Watson

For someone like Green that's been on the opposite end of a matchup with Watson for three games this season, he's seen just the type of potency that he can offer on both ends of the floor.

Watson hasn't scored more than 10 points in any of his three matchups against the Warriors, but that's far from saying his impact hasn't been clear for Green to see, especially when it comes to his defensive upside and high-level processing speed, making him one of the more versatile two-way players Denver has to offer.

Mar 25, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Peyton Watson (8) reacts after a play in the fourth quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

That steep growth from Watson could lead to the Nuggets having a tricky contract dilemma on their hands later this summer once he hits restricted free agency. It's bound to be pretty tough to retain all of the core pieces between the starting five and loaded depth down the bench, and near impossible if Denver isn't willing to dive into the luxury tax.

But for as long as Watson's healthy this season, he'll have a key role for Denver to truly reach its ceiling as a championship group, and might just be what takes them over the hump if he can get back to his near-Most Improved Player numbers from a few months back.

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