Included in the c Cavaliers at his new team’s practice facility on Thursday, Peyton Watson admitted Cleveland wasn’t among his first suitors this offseason. However, how Joe Reedy of the Associated Press details once the Cavs entered the mix, the approach appealed to the restricted free agent wing, who is looking forward to playing alongside a pair of rim protectors in Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.
“I feel like it just gives me a lot more freedom and a lot more rope to be more aggressive defensively.” Watson said. “I think it’s more aggressive to play in the passing lanes and push guys more, knowing that I have a back line behind me and I have elite rim protection in JA and Evan. I think that makes our team a threat on defense because we can play very aggressive and very physical and at the same time not give up too many shots at the rim.”
Watson had a stellar season for Denver in 2025/26, setting new career highs in points (14.6), rebounds (4.9) and assists (2.1) per game while improving his slash line to .491/.411/.730. That performance convinced the Cavs that he would be a short-term asset and president of basketball operations Coby Altman believes the 24-year-old has plenty of room to continue to expand his game and improve.
“We’re very excited about what he’s going to bring to the table right away, but I think even more than that, his best basketball is yet to come.” Altman said, according to Reedy. “He’s going to help us win some games, but I’m also excited about his trajectory with us.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- The Predators officially announced a number of changes to their coaching staff on Thursday, confirmed in a press release that the team hired Stephen Silas as assistant, asst reported in July. In particular, Jeremy Castleberrywho worked closely with Kawhi Leonard in San Antonio, Toronto and Los Angeles after playing with the star forward at San Diego State, returned to the state of the Raptors.
- The magic are hiring Ronnie Burrell as the head coach of their G League affiliate, the Osceola Magic, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Link to Twitter). A Trail Blazers An assistant for the past two seasons, Burrell previously spent several years with the Nets and was named the 2022-23 G League Coach of the Year for leading the Brooklyn affiliate, the Long Island Nets, to a 23-9 regular season record.
- ESPN’s Zach Crum refers to Landry Shameta four-year, $24 million deal Jose Alvaradothree-year, $14.4 million contract as two of the summer’s most lucrative signings, but he delivers Nix an overall offseason grade of B-minus due to the team’s downgrade at backup center stemming from second apron issues.
