Peyton Tyler Watson (born September 11, 2002) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). A

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Brothers ...

in high school, he played one season of

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

. Watson was selected in the first round of the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New ...

with the 30th overall pick.

High school career

Watson attended

Long Beach Polytechnic High School Long Beach Polytechnic High School, founded in 1895 as Long Beach High School, is a four-year public high school located at 1600 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, California, United States. The school serves portions of Long Beach, including Bixby ...

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, joining the

varsity team A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At high schools ...

as a freshman. After coming off the bench earlier in his career, he assumed a leading role in his junior season. He averaged 23.2 points and eight

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

per game, earning

Moore League The Moore League is a high school sports league in Southern California. It comprises seven schools: public traditional high schools of the Long Beach Unified School District plus Compton High School. The league is administered by the California ...

MVP honors. He was named to the rosters for the

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school all star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys and girls in the senior class. In 2015, a girl's game was introduced. Th ...

and

Nike Hoop Summit The Nike Hoop Summit is an international basketball all-star game sponsored by Nike, Inc., Nike, held once a year, which features the USA Basketball Men's Junior Select Team against a World Select Team of international players. The players demons ...

Recruiting

Watson was a consensus five-star recruit, one of the top

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

s and the highest-ranked player from California in the 2021 recruiting class. On July 27, 2020, he committed to playing college basketball for

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

over offers from

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places *Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy *Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily Surname *House of Gonza ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. He was frank with the Bruins coaching staff that he intended to be a

one-and-done player The NBA draft is a major annual event in which all the 30 franchises in the National Basketball Association select new players for their teams. Eligibility rules for prospective players have changed eight times during the history of the league. N ...

, leaving for the NBA after one year in college.

College career

As a freshman at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

in 2021–22, Watson arrived out of shape, primarily due to his high school senior season being disrupted by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He joined an experienced UCLA group that had advanced to the

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

of the NCAA tournament a year earlier. All five starters returned, and he received no guarantees about his playing time. Watson's defense was more advanced than his offense. However, the Bruins had other established scorers. He received honorable mention for the

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

All-Freshman Team. He averaged 3.3 points and 2.9 rebounds in 12.6 minutes per game, and made just 32.2% of his

field goals A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, a ...

and 22.6% of his three-pointers. His playing time was sporadic, and he logged 10 minutes or more in just two out of the last seven games of the season. After the season, Watson declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his remaining college eligibility.

Professional career

Watson was selected by the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Confer ...

in first round of the

with the 30th overall pick. He was then traded to the

along with two future second-round picks for

JaMychal Green JaMychal Green (born June 21, 1990) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Green started ...

and a 2027 protected first-round draft pick. Possessing a wide wingspan, Watson was projected as a long-term project and expected to spend time developing with the

Grand Rapids Gold The Grand Rapids Gold are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Denver Nuggets. The Gold play their home games at Van Andel Arena. They began play as the Anaheim ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

. Watson ended his rookie season as an

NBA champion The NBA Finals is the championship series for the National Basketball Association (NBA) held at the conclusion of its postseason. All NBA Finals have been played in a best-of-seven format, and are contested between the winners of the Easter ...

when the Nuggets defeated the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

in the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

National team career

Watson represented the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the 2021 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Latvia. He averaged four points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, helping his team win the gold medal.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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, 68 , , 18 , , 24.4 , , .477 , , .353 , , .693 , , 3.4 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , 1.4 , , 8.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 171 , , 24 , , 19.5 , , .472 , , .328 , , .673 , , 3.1 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , 1.1 , , 6.8

Playoffs

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2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

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College

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Personal life

Watson's father, Julio, is a

medical device A medical device is any device intended to be used for medical purposes. Significant potential for hazards are inherent when using a device for medical purposes and thus medical devices must be proved safe and effective with reasonable assura ...

representative, and his mother is an

event planner Event management is the application of project management to the creation and development of small and/or large-scale personal or corporate events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies, weddings, formal parties, concerts, or convention (me ...

. He has a younger brother, Christian, who plays basketball at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, and a younger sister, Jolie Grace.

References

External links

*
UCLA Bruins bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Peyton 2002 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American men's basketball players Basketball players from Long Beach, California Denver Nuggets players Grand Rapids Gold players Long Beach Polytechnic High School alumni McDonald's High School All-Americans Oklahoma City Thunder draft picks Shooting guards UCLA Bruins men's basketball players