Jaquez on Watson’s snub: “He deserves to be here”

Aside from lacking a second NBA Allstar representative this weekend, the Nuggets also notably didn’t have a single participant at the Rising Stars Game on Friday night.

Two players in Denver’s everyday rotation were Calvin Booth’s 2022 draft picks, but neither Peyton Watson nor Christian Braun was deemed a Rising Star.

Count Jaime Jaquez Jr. among those surprised by Watson’s absence during a breakout season.

“I definitely thought I’d be seeing him this weekend,” Jaquez, who was Watson’s college teammate at UCLA, told The Denver Post. “I know he’s having a great year out in Denver, especially Year 2 after the great year that (the Nuggets) had last year. It’s not up to me. I wish I could have seen him here. I think he deserves to be here.”

Watson was a one-anddone bench player at UCLA in 2021-22, overlapping with Jaquez’s illustrious college career that included a Final Four run the previous season. Watson averaged 3.3 points in 12.7 minutes per game, then declared for the draft.

Denver selected him No. 30 overall.

After a year spent primarily in the G League, the Los Angeles native has thrived as a pseudo-rookie. Among 210 players who have had 375 or more shots attempted against them at the All-star break, Watson leads the NBA in individual defensive field goal percentage: 41.9% on 434 field goal attempts.

He’s also averaging 6.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game.

“He always brought so much life and energy to the team at all times,” Jaquez said at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. “He was always such a positive spirit. It was just a joy to have him on our team.

“There were a lot of great memories. I was older, he was a freshman, so I was trying to really help out and take him under my wing, do all sorts of things like that. So yeah, I would just t ake him out with me wherever I go. We had a great relationship from then on.”