Peyton Watson announces return to Nuggets lineup after missing a month of action

After being out of the Nuggets’ lineup for almost five weeks with a right knee sprain he suffered against Philadelphia on Jan. 31, Peyton Watson will be back in the lineup for Denver this week, per his Instagram. The Nuggets have been direly missing his defensive efforts, as the team ranks 17th in defensive rating in the NBA (113.9, tied with Charlotte) heading into the final 20 games of the season.

Watson took to social media Monday to announce his return.

A message from Peyton Watson’s Instagram: pic.twitter.com/ypkc9xCLKl

— Vinny Benedetto (@VBenedetto) March 3, 2025

For Watson, the high-flyer out of UCLA will bring a punch back to the bench unit that has been missing for the last month or so, as his ability to guard a team’s top player alongside Christian Braun makes Denver a much more formidable team defensively, and he’s shown the ability to help a little bit on the offensive end as he’s averaging a career high 8.1 points per game this season.

Don’t be surprised if Watson comes out against the Kings on Wednesday looking rusty. For a guy who laterally moves and jumps as much as he does, it’s not the easiest thing in the world to come off a knee sprain and be at peak form. It’s going to take Watson some time, and having a 20-game buffer before the start of the playoffs should be an adequate time period for him to get back to himself.

Watson’s return comes at a much-needed time for this Nuggets squad that just lost Julian Strawther to injury on Sunday and is struggling to stay afloat in the non-Jokic minutes against the league’s top competition.

Before suffering the injury, Watson’s scoring numbers were slightly down, averaging 6.8 points per game in January. With the new defensive trends shown against the Nuggets with the Lakers and Celtics doing everything in their power to get the ball out of Jokic’s hands, guys like Watson are going to have to step up more on the offensive end. He won’t have to make four 3-pointers per game, but he needs to establish himself as a player a team has to guard when he spots up in the corner.

From a rotation standpoint, Watson should absorb some of Strawther’s minutes being left behind as the second man off the bench (assuming Aaron Gordon is back soon). Before the injury, he was playing just over 24 minutes per game in January. With the injuries and recent callings for second-year guard Jalen Pickett, head coach Michael Malone has a lot on his plate down the stretch in terms of figuring out his playoff rotation.

Watson’s first action back can be seen from Ball Arena Wednesday when the Nuggets host the Sacramento Kings at 7:00 p.m. MT.