Peyton Watson remains day-to-day in his recovery from a hamstring injury, and despite hopes he’d be back by now, head coach David Adelman said Monday that the Nuggets are being cautious with the breakout forward.
“I have no idea,” Adelman said at practice when asked for a specific return date. “I would say just hopefully within the week. That was the hope a couple weeks ago. But it’s all about how he feels and how the medical guys feel like he’s responding to the stress he puts in his body.”
Watson is progressing through his rehab, participating in 3-on-3 work and conditioning drills with strength and performance coach Felipe Eichenberger and his staff. But Adelman wasn’t ready to commit to a timeline.
“It’s a process, it’s day to day,” Adelman admitted, sounding like a coach who has delivered similar updates too many times this season. “I feel bad — I say the same thing all the time, with all these guys that have been out. But hoping for the best for Peyton. Hoping to be by the end of the weekend or into the week.”
Watson suffered the hamstring injury in early February, joining what became a cascade of injuries that has plagued Denver throughout the season. At the time, Adelman described watching his players go down as “deflating when you keep seeing people go down around you when you’re trying to build towards something.”
The former UCLA product was enjoying a breakout campaign before the injury sidelined him. In November, Watson tallied career highs in both points (32) and rebounds (12) in a win over New Orleans — the first double-double of his career. He added three more 30-point games in January while the Nuggets were at their most banged-up, effectively becoming Jamal Murray’s wingman.
Watson’s emergence became critical with Christian Braun’s ankle issues limiting him to just 32 games so far and Aaron Gordon battling his own hamstring problems, which has him at 27 games played.
Watson is doing all of this in a contract year while the team just paid Braun instead of him. In turn he’s played 49 games, averaging 14.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2 assists a game on 50% shooting from the field and 42% from deep.
A few weeks ago, Adelman set a short timeline for both Gordon and Watson, expressing optimism about their returns. Gordon has since made it back, but Watson’s hamstring has proven more stubborn than initially expected.
When healthy, Watson’s return raises intriguing questions about Denver’s rotation. Cameron Johnson has really struggled for much of the year but is finally playing good ball while Braun has still been a shell of what he was last year. It sparks the debate about whether Watson will move back to the bench or get another nod with the starters once he’s fully healthy.
For now, those discussions remain on hold as the Nuggets wait — and hope — that the end of the weekend finally brings Watson back to game action. As of now, the Nuggets have 14 games left, getting 10 with Watson would give them a solid runway before the playoffs.