Former UCLA Standout Making Massive Strides in Vital Area

Former UCLA Bruins wing Peyton Watson is showing considerable improvement with the Denver Nuggets this NBA season.

Dec 5, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson (8) drives between Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) and guard Donovan Mitchell (45) in the second quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

The Denver Nuggets have actually been one of the more disappointing teams in the NBA this season, but that's due to no fault of Peyton Watson.

Watson is now in his third NBA season, and the former UCLA Bruins star is showing significant strides this year.

In 23 games, Watson is averaging 9.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and one block over 24.9 minutes a night on 49.7/36.5/76.6 shooting splits.

He has made incredible progression as a shooter, as he connected on just 29.6 percent of his three-point attempts over 80 contests last season.

His jump in efficiency is largely reflected in his true-shooting percentage, as the 22-year-old boasts a career-high mark of 59.5 percent in that category.

This was a major problem area for Watson during the 2023-24 campaign, as he logged a true-shooting percentage of just 53.9 percent. That was well below league average, and it did not exactly bode well for his development as a scorer.

Not that Watson was ever really valued all that much for his offensive repertoire.

The UCLA product was selected in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft primarily due to his defensive potential, as the wiry Watson has the ability to guard multiple positions effectively.

However, Watson is moving along at a quicker pace offensively than many anticipated.

He has scored in double figures 10 times this year, which included a stretch of five straight double-digit performances between Nov. 4 and Nov. 15.

As a matter of fact, from Nov. 4 through Nov. 23, Watson logged double figures eight times in nine games. He has regressed a bit since then, but he did just finish with 14 points and five rebounds in the Nuggets' win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.

With Denver lacking elite depth, Watson has a grand opportunity to take another step for the remainder of this season and establish himself as a critical part of the Nuggets' future.

We'll see if the former Bruins standout can continue to improve the rest of the way and if he can potentially break the 20-point barrier for the first time this year.

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