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Vinny Benedetto: Peyton Watson is officially listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against Portland. G League assignments DaRon Holmes II, Curtis Jones and KJ Simpson are the only others listed on Denver’s injury report.
Denver Nuggets forward Peyton Watson is expected to return Sunday against the Portland Trail Blazers after missing more than six weeks due to a hamstring strain, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania on Saturday. Watson's return would mark the first time the Nuggets have had their full roster available since early in the season. Several players, including three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Cameron Johnson and Christian Braun, have all missed extended time this year.
Vinny Benedetto: Sounds like the hope remains the Nuggets get Peyton Watson back sometime this week. Wouldn't expect it tomorrow or Wednesday.
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The Nuggets have battled injuries all season long, but they remained competitive as one of the top teams in the league, led by three-time MVP Nikola Jokic. "I'm going to say my prediction is that if everyone gets healthy on the Nuggets — Peyton Watson broke out this year and Aaron Gordon is a difference maker — once they get healthy for the playoffs, it's going to be really, really hard to beat them in seven games," Porter Jr. claimed. "I'm going to go with Denver."
“I think (we missed him) more on the defensive side,” Nikola Jokic said, alluding also to the injured Peyton Watson. “They’re really good on offense, and they give us different variation and different weapons on offense. But I think their length and their ability to guard, we kind of miss more. Definitely, it’s gonna help us.” The numbers speak for themselves. The Nuggets are 17-6 with Gordon on the court and 22-18 with him on the sideline. Their offensive rating is 3.9 points per 100 possessions better with Gordon than without him. Their defensive rating is 8.2 points better.
Per a league source close to Aaron Gordon, the veteran forward — who re-aggravated his right hamstring injury on Jan. 23 — is targeting a return in Friday’s home game against the New York Knicks. It remains to be seen if he’ll get the necessary clearance from the Nuggets, who are being understandably cautious here in light of the setback he suffered six weeks ago. Gordon missed 19 games earlier this season with the hamstring injury, then pulled up lame on a routine rebound against the Milwaukee Bucks in his 10th game back and has been sidelined ever since. As such, there is clearly a high level of concern and care being exercised about his return. With the postseason still more than a month away, and the Nuggets (38-24; fifth in the Western Conference) having lost 11 of their last 20 games while also enduring the extended absence of another pivotal player in Peyton Watson (hamstring), the stakes of this choice are incredibly high.
NBA Courtside: Paul Pierce talking about how the Denver Nuggets can win the West: “Well my case for them they host the best player. They host one of the best home court advantages in all of basketball. They have championship DNA in their locker room. They have more depth this year than they had a year ago, with Brown and Braun, Peyton Watson now coming to the fold and he’s maturing. I just like what Jamal Murray has given this year turning himself into an All-Star. I just think this a team in the playoffs in a seven game series. If you lose to them at home, you are not winning in Denver.” (Via @NFGShow )
Paul Pierce talking about how the Denver Nuggets can win the West:
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) February 27, 2026
“Well my case for them they host the best player. They host one of the best home court advantages in all of basketball. They have championship DNA in their locker room. They have more depth this year than they… pic.twitter.com/PTV7EBhZPN
Vinny Benedetto: Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson remain out for tomorrow's game in Oklahoma City. Jamal Murray (illness), Jalen Pickett (right knee soreness) and Spencer Jones (right shoulder strain) are questionable. Julian Strawther is probable.
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KJ Simpson played his first meaningful minutes since joining the team on a two-way contract last week. His fast-break flush late in the third quarter capped an 11-0 Nuggets run and sent them to the fourth with a 77-67 lead, the first double-digit margin of the night. That run carried over with a pair of buckets from backup center Jonas Valanciunas. When Jokic was out of the game, Adelman continued to ride a bench unit with Johnson staggering — not that he had a surplus of other options with Murray, Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson all out. “KJ didn’t show up here thinking he was going to play,” Adelman said. “He warmed up, it seemed like, four hours before the game. That’s his warm-up time. So he’s been sitting around here not doing anything. And then Jamal gets sick. He’s out. I felt like it was appropriate to let him play in the first half out of fairness, so gave him a few minutes there. And I personally thought he looked comfortable.”
Vinny Benedetto: Jamal Murray is questionable for tomorrow’s game at Golden State with right hamstring tightness. Jalen Pickett is out with right knee soreness. Peyton Watson and Aaron Gordon remain out. No Steph Curry or Jimmy Butler for the Warriors - Kristaps Porzingis is probable.
Among the hundreds of thousands of Coloradans in the crowd for Denver’s first NBA championship parade in 2023, at least one was a future Nugget. KJ Simpson allowed himself to daydream about his future as he watched the floats pass by. One was occupied by an acquaintance. He and Peyton Watson were born a month apart in 2001. They played high school hoops against each other in Southern California. Simpson knew Watson, knew his family. Now he was looking up at them from the sidewalk while they partied on a bus.
“That was the closest I had been to seeing or being there to experience a championship team, I guess,” Simpson said. “Seeing them just go by. The job is finished. That was mad inspiring to me. Like, man, I want to feel that one day.” Almost three years later, Simpson is back in Colorado, where he’s beloved for his three-year CU career and March Madness heroics in 2024. The former Buffs guard signed a two-way contract with the Nuggets on Thursday.
