Nuggets lose key bench player for at least the next month
Feb 3, 2025, 11:11 AM
The Denver Nuggets will be without forward Peyton Watson for at least the next month.
The team announced the unfortunate news on Monday morning, as Watson suffered a right knee sprain against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night. He didn’t play on Saturday against the Charlotte Hornets and now will miss a chunk of time as the regular season winds down.
Injury Update:
Peyton Watson suffered a right knee sprain at Philadelphia on January 31st. He will be re-evaluated in four weeks. pic.twitter.com/AicJtR4Jpr
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) February 3, 2025
Watson is a key piece of the Nuggets rotation off the bench for head coach Michael Malone. In 48 games this season Watson is averaging 8.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per night. He’s also made 12 starts for Denver and has clearly earned the trust of Malone to play in every contest, averaging 24.1 minutes per game.
It’ll be interesting to see how Malone operates moving forward, given that he won’t have Watson back until at least early March. Against the Hornets, Zeke Nnaji saw increased playing time, earning 22 minutes in which he scored six points, blocked five shots and grabbed three rebounds.
Nnaji’s name constantly comes up in trade rumors, and the NBA’s deadline is just three days away on Thursday afternoon. Dario Saric and DeAndre Jordan could also be options for Malone, although Saric has been disappointing as a free-agent acquisition and Jordan is more of a strong presence in the locker room.
With a 30-19 record, the Nuggets currently have the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference. They’ll look to move up the standings between now and the end of the regular season, but will have to navigate that journey without Watson for a minimum of four weeks.
