The Denver Nuggets’ bone to pick may ultimately be with Rich Paul rather than with Peyton Watson.
The Klutch Sports founder and CEO Paul spoke this week on his “Game Over” podcast with Max Kellerman for The Ringer. During the episode, Paul admitted that it was him who convinced his client Watson not to play in the 2026 NBA playoffs.
Watson was still with the Nuggets at the time. He suffered a strained hamstring in early April and did not play again for the rest of the year (including Denver’s eventual first-round playoff loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves).
“When you’re dealing with those [soft-tissue] injuries, you have to be very careful in your return,” said Paul. “Guys want to play. You have to protect them from themselves in that moment because you’re up for a contract, and it’s the playoffs, and I’ve had a pretty good year, so I need to play. And it’s important to protect that.”
We learned earlier this month that the Nuggets believed Watson had pulled a weak move on them by sitting out of the postseason when they felt that he was actually day-to-day the entire time. Now we know that Watson apparently wanted to play but was convinced otherwise by his agent Paul.
The 23-year-old Watson, who had initially suffered a strain to the same hamstring in early February before returning in late March, spent his first four career seasons with the Nuggets and won a championship with them in 2023. But now Watson is officially headed to the Cleveland Cavaliers via a multi-team sign-and-trade and is getting a rich new contract to do so.
