New Cleveland Cavaliers forward Peyton Watson received a bold prediction for the 2026-27 NBA season.
The Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Peyton Watson from the Denver Nuggets in a blockbuster sign-and-trade deal last week.
The Nuggets, Cavaliers and LA Clippers agreed on a trade sending Watson to Cleveland and Max Strus to Los Angeles.
As part of the multi-team deal, Denver received an unprotected 2031 Cavaliers first-round pick and a 2032 Sacramento Kings second-rounder.
Watson signed a four-year, $88 million deal to join the Cavaliers. The deal includes a player option and a trade kicker.
For the Nuggets last season, Watson averaged 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 49.1% from the field, 41.1% from beyond the arc and 73.0% from the free-throw line. He's one of the top two-way wings in the league and NBA analyst Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report predicts Watson "tallies 150-plus three-pointers" next season.
"The Cavs are convinced that Watson will be the one who finally stops their revolving door at small forward. Well, that or they at least deemed him the most capable of doing that among wings they could afford to acquire and pay," Buckley wrote.
"Either way, they're now fully pot-committed to the fifth-year swingman, losing access to both tradeable first-round picks and tradeable mid-sized salaries. Opponents will do everything they can to challenge the wisdom of this commitment by packing the paint against Cleveland's bigs and crowding their guards. Watson should get a ton of open looks from three, and he could use all of these chances to nearly double the career-high 81 threes he made last season."
Cleveland will start James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Watson, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen next season. On paper, that looks like a lethal starting lineup.
Watson enters next season with career averages of 8.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. He turns 24 in September.
Cleveland opens next season against LeBron and the 76ers in Philadelphia. That will be an electric atmosphere.
Can a core of Harden, Mitchell, Watson, Mobley and Allen win a championship? We'll find out soon.
