Cavaliers forward Peyton Watsonacquired from the Nuggets in a sign-and-trade deal, hopes his hard-nosed attitude will carry over to his new team, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes.
“Just to go there with a mean streak. Go there and try to kill. Don’t take the prisoner mentality.” Watson said. “That’s my mentality and that’s what I’ll repeat to the team. There’s no time to be nice and be friends with the opposition. The league is more competitive than ever and there are guys trying to take what you’ve got and they want what you’ve got.”
Watson also believes the team needs to do everything they can to stay healthy and build chemistry to compete for the title.
“It’s going to be hard” he said. “Everybody knows the hardest part is staying fit and available throughout the season and following the right principles. That’s what we set out to do, and I think we have the personalities in the team to do that and we have the roster to do that. After that, it’s not about what we’re going to do, it’s about going and doing it.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- The Predators refused Jamarion Sharpe at the end of training camp. However, he will likely remain with the organization. Their G League affiliate, the Raptors 905, purchased the rights, according to Sportsnet’s Blake Murphy tweets. If Sharpe, who was on an Exhibit 10 contract, joins a G League club and stays with the club for at least 60 days, he will be eligible for a bonus of up to 91K.
- It’s been a tough preseason for Hornets injury-wise, but some key players are making progress. Mog Knueppel (Sprained left hamstring), Grant Williams (Right hamstring strain) and Kobe White (left calf strain) have returned to individual court activities while they rehabilitate their injuries, according to the team’s PR department tweets. They will all miss the team’s opener against Brooklyn on Wednesday.
- The magic are also broken. Anthony Black (dislocation of the right ankle), Jonathan Isaac (treatment of left knee injury), Noah Penda (right partially torn hamstring) and Isaiah Nelson (left ankle injury treatment) are all out for Wednesday’s season-opening game against Atlanta, Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel tweets. however, Franz Wagner (right shoulder soreness) and Jace Richardson (back pain) is fine, adds Bide (Link to Twitter).