No shot, Sherlock. Did you know that the Nuggets’ dear Doctor Watson never got more than 14 field-goal attempts in a regular-season game while Michael Porter, Jr. was here?
Without the MPJ trade, Peyton Watson: Springy, Lengthy, Role Player, doesn’t become Peyton Watson: Restricted Free-Agent Wing I Desperately Want My Team To Sign Now. There’s no Lakers chatter. There’s no 35-point evening in Washington. No 31-point effort in New Orleans. Or a 30-point game in Boston. And the Nuggets sure as heck aren’t 9-6 this month without Nikola Jokic.
It’s Old Friend Night at Ball Arena on Thursday as Denver (31-16) hosts the Brooklyn Nets, led by Porter, Jr., the former Nuggets star.
Wish him well. Thank him for the memories. MPJ won a ring here. He wanted to win a second. The problem with Porter was never really the player. It was the contract.
In fact, getting MPJ’s $38.3 million cap number for this season and Porter’s $40.8 (!) million for 2026-27 off the books this past summer keeps looking better — and wiser — all the time.
For one, it gave executive VPs Jon Wallace and Ben Tenzer the payroll room to add:
• Guards Bruce Brown (10.9 points, 1.5 steals per 36 minutes) and Tim Hardway Jr. (13.7 points, 2.8 3-point makes per game ) via free agency, and;
• The space to trade for center Jonas Valanciunas (22.9 points, 13.1 rebounds, 1.5 blocks per 36 minutes) to pair with Jokic.
Porter as of Wednesday afternoon rolls into town riding a career statistical year, averaging 25.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. He’s having an All-Star campaign, even though his Nets are (checks phone) 12-33. And good for him.
Meanwhile, the four guys Denver was able to grab with MPJ’s old salary slot — Brown, Hardaway, Valanciunas and Cam Johnson, who came over in the MPJ-to-Nets swap — are averaging, combined, 41.6 points and 15.3 rebounds per game. That’s, what, two MPJs?
The Nuggets didn’t lose on this deal, per se. All sides just happened to win.
This month, Watson is averaging 22.2 points, 5.9 boards and 2.5 treys over 36.3 minutes while connecting on 45.7% of his 3-point attempts. Basically, he’s been putting on a pretty good MPJ impersonation for the last three-and-a-half weeks, even with two wonky ankles.
Does Watson suddenly look like a core piece, or a tradeable/flippable asset, if MPJ is still here? He sure as heck wouldn’t see the ball as much. Or have the green light to put up nearly as many shots. Or have the stage to show rival scouts/teams that he could be an consistent scorer, even from beyond the arc.
Yes, what Watson’s really getting are Cam Johnson’s minutes. But he’s getting those minutes because Johnson was supposed to get MPJ’s minutes. Or most of them, at any rate.
The absence of Braun and Gordon to injury only compounded matters. And yet, even with more minutes, P-Swat has more than held up his end of the bargain on the defensive side. NBA.com tracking data says that over the previous 15 games, Watson’s posted a 114.9 Defensive Rating — or points given up to opponents every 100 possessions.
They need No. 8 on both sides of the floor right now. As Tuesday’s loss to Detroit reminded us, the Nuggets are trotting out a scrappy but middling defensive core even if AG and Braun are healthy. It becomes a pretty leaky one when they’re not there.
Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham (22 points, 11 assists) bullied his 6-foot-6 frame into open looks all evening. Detroit’s Tobias Harris (22 points) sank turnaround jumpers wherever and whenever he wanted. Over 13 games from Jan. 1-Jan. 25, according to NBA.com, the Nuggets were giving up 116.4 points per 100 possessions, and 117.1 per 100 at home. For that 25-day stretch, only the Bucks (116.7), Pelicans (116.8), Wizards (117.2), Magic (117.7), Kings (120.1), Nets (121.7) and Jazz (124.7) have had a harder time keeping the other guys off the scoreboard.
The Joker-led Nuggets, much to former coach Michael Malone’s chagrin, often had to outscore people — and generally did. The Joker-less Nuggs have to outscore and outshoot people.
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“It’ll be easier, when everyone gets back, for him to be the kind of impact defender he’s been,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said of Watson, “when he doesn’t have as much on his shoulders.”
They’re getting broader by the day. And we probably never see that upside at all if MPJ is in the way.
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