Peyton Watson Wants ‘Take No Prisoners’ Mentality From Cavaliers

Peyton Watson said Monday that the Cleveland Cavaliers cannot afford to be friendly with opponents this season, three days before his first regular-season game with the team.

There are no excuses in this game, as Watson sees it, and Cleveland has to be ready to play on Oct. 22 in Philadelphia.

"I used to go out there with a [mean] streak. I think go out there and try to kill, take no prisoners mentality," Watson said. "I think that's my mentality, and that's something that I'll be echoing in the team, but there is no time for being nice and buddy-buddy with the opposition. I think the league is more competitive than ever, and there are guys going out there that are trying to take what you have, and they want what you have."

"And I think being a good team is a blessing but also a curse, because [there's a target] on our backs as well," Watson continued. "We see that we're slated to be one of the better teams and we're slated to be a really strong roster, and they see that, and they say, 'I can't wait to play those guys.' And I think our mentality is we can't wait to play all that."

Bleacher Report's preseason top 99 put four Cavaliers in the top 64, with Donovan Mitchell 11th, James Harden 30th, Evan Mobley 32nd, and Jarrett Allen 64th. Watson came in at No. 91.

The NBA did not give Cleveland a Christmas Day game, after the Cavaliers played on the holiday last season. San Antonio, New York, and Oklahoma City, the other three teams that reached last season's conference finals, all got one.

Watson turned 24 in September. He played one season at UCLA, and Oklahoma City drafted him 30th overall in 2022 and traded him to Denver for JaMychal Green and a protected 2027 first-round pick. He won a title as a rookie when the Nuggets beat the Miami Heat in the 2023 Finals.

He averaged 8.1 points, 1.4 blocks, and 0.7 steals in 24.4 minutes over 68 games in 2024-25. Last season brought 1.1 blocks and 0.9 steals a game, with Watson shooting 49% from the field, 41% from 3-point range, and 73% at the line. By the end of October 2025, he had 24 career games with at least three blocks, according to RotoWire.

Watson makes sure everybody is on the same page, whether or not anyone has told him it is his job.

"A lot, a lot, but I think we all do," Watson explained. "I think we all have a responsibility to have our brothers' back and for that trust to be there. I take it upon myself, regardless if somebody told me I was responsible or not. That's just something that I like to do out there, is to make sure that everybody's on the same page."

"So I think that I fit in well here. This is a really player-led and player-driven team, and that's something that I'm not as used to," Watson added. "But it's very, very fun to be a part of, because you kind of get to talk the game out with the guys who are out there, and that matters a lot."

Cleveland was not one of the first teams interested in Watson during his restricted free agency, NBA.com reported. Milwaukee, Portland, and the Los Angeles Clippers had also been in the mix before the Cavaliers signed him to a four-year, $88 million deal in an August sign-and-trade with Denver. He had averaged a career-high 14.6 points last season. He started with Harden, Mitchell, Mobley, and Allen in the Cavaliers' preseason win over Orlando on Oct. 11.

Harden is entering his 18th NBA season, and Mitchell is entering his fifth in Cleveland since arriving from Utah in 2022.

Projections have Cleveland winning fewer games than last season, when it went 52-30.

Philadelphia, which added LeBron James and Jaylen Brown this summer, opens its season Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks raise their championship banner. The 76ers then host Cleveland at 7 p.m. ET Thursday on ESPN.