The Denver Nuggets saw the exit of Peyton Watson from their roster this offseason after he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Watson signed a four-year, $88 million contract with a player option and trade kicker to join the Cleveland Cavaliers through a multi-team sign-and-trade deal last month.
A Nuggets starting guard broke his silence about Watson’s departure from the team in an interview with Sean Keeler of The Denver Post.
Nuggets’ Christian Braun Breaks His Silence
Christian Braun, the team’s starting shooting guard, expressed belief that Watson would continue his development and leap with the Cavaliers, one of the contenders in the Eastern Conference.
“Very excited for Peyton and everything he accomplished,” Braun said. “I mean, every single day that I’ve been in the NBA, I’ve been with Peyton. Every single day we’ve competed, we’ve competed together. We’ve done everything together.”
“We’ve practiced every day together. We’ve done all the rookie stuff together. So Peyton’s my guy. Me and his guys, his family, his friends have gotten close (with me) over the last four years, obviously. And he’s a guy that obviously supported me at every step. So I’ll do the same for him, always.”
Both drafted in 2022, Braun (21st pick) and Watson (30th pick) entered the league together and won a title in their rookie year with the Nuggets in 2023.
A year ago, the Nuggets signed Braun to a five-year, $125 million extension, which restricted their cap space and limited what they could offer Watson.
According to multiple reports, Watson’s camp sought a deal comparable to or higher than Braun’s, leading to Watson being traded.
Watson averaged 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game during the 2025-2026 NBA regular season, his best year since coming to the league.
Now, Watson gets to continue that upward trajectory with the Cavaliers, where he will be teammates with the likes of James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen to compete in a stacked Eastern Conference next season.
Peyton Watson Has Issue With Denver Nuggets Injury Management
Peyton Watson opened up how the Denver Nuggets managed his injury late in the 2025-2026 NBA season.
According to Watson, he felt rushed by the team to return for the NBA playoffs, causing him to suffer setbacks in his recovery.
“Two or three weeks into my hamstring rehab, I was out there playing with the coaches and I just felt like a little tweak,” Watson said. “I felt like that was a minor setback that I didn’t really want to accept. But I felt like that was a little bit more, and it set my recovery back even to six weeks after that.”
“I felt like if I would have maybe taken my time more from the jump and approached it more precautiously, me and the training staff, I felt like we could have gotten on top of it and I would have been good throughout the postseason,” Watson said. “But I feel like we kind of rushed it and we didn’t take the right approach.”
That could be pinpointed as the beginning of the end for Watson’s time with the Nuggets.
Nevertheless, Denver moves on with the signing of multi-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan to play alongside Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, and Jamal Murray.
Nuggets Starting Guard Reveals What He Thinks of Peyton Watson Exit