If I hear one more person say the name Peyton Watson, it had better be because he's joining the Utah Jazz.
Peyton Watson has been the apple of many a Jazz fan's eye over the past season, and with the Denver Nuggets' promising youngster due for a major payday this offseason, it sounds like the Nuggets are more than willing to part ways with Watson, preferably through the sign-and-trade route.
The Utah Jazz have saved plenty of money this offseason since losing Walker Kessler -- a defensive-minded center commanding north of $30 million per year on his updated contract -- to the Los Angeles Lakers. We'll mourn his loss and lament the fact that we'll never get to see Kessler share the court with Jaren Jackson Jr in what could have been the strongest defensive frontcourt in all of basketball, but the cost was simply too great to move forward with a player who was beginning to wave red flags in every direction.
And who could say no to four unprotected first-round picks (well, technically two picks and two pick-swaps)? Even the Celtics gave up Jalen Brown, arguably one of the five best players in basketball last season, for two firsts. The Jazz made out like bandits.
But in Kessler's absence, the Jazz will need to fill the defensive void. Jackson Jr, as strong of a defender as he's proven to be (Defensive Player of the Year ring any bells?), cannot lift the Jazz to new heights alone on the defensive end. Sure, he played the majority of his award-winning season at the center position, but the Jazz will need a rebounding boost.
Enter: Peyton Watson, the player who Denver is seemingly willing to part with this offseason in yet another baffling roster-building decision by a team hoping to win championships through Nikola Jokic.
Watson is a 6'8" guard who just enjoyed career-bests of 14.9 points per game on 41% three-point shooting, plus averages of 4.9 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 0.9 blocks. The ideal complementary piece to a team still attempting to round out the roster, and one that likely won't cost an arm and a leg like Kessler commanded.
Yes, the Jazz just added Josh Okogie to strengthen the team's defense out on the wing, but Watson is the archetype of a universal balm, capable of healing virtually any ailment no matter the team situation. Assuming the price is right, and the Jazz weren't forced to part ways with key pieces -- extending to players like Ace Bailey, Brice Sensabaugh, and Cody Williams -- making a pitch for Peyton Watson could be the ideal way to patch the Jazz's remaining defensive leak.
