“I knew I was being embraced from day one” – Peyton Watson shares how James Harden helped recruit him to Cleveland

The Cleveland Cavaliers may have missed out on the biggest name in free agency in LeBron James, but they did manage to bring in the next best option for their situation in athletic wing Peyton Watson, who signed a four-year, $88 million deal.

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The 24-year-old Watson was a breakout star for the Denver Nuggets last season, averaging a career-high 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists. More importantly, he played a crucial role in keeping the Nuggets competitive during a stretch wherein star center Nikola Jokic was injured.

With Watson, the Cavaliers have finally found the athletic two-way wing that they’ve long needed, without having to give up key starters like Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.

For the Cavaliers to be able to pull off the deal that landed them Watson, they needed to have the financial flexibility and that was made possible by the All-Star point guard James Harden.

Harden, who opted out of his contract to negotiate a team-friendly deal, waited for the Cavaliers to make offseason moves before signing his own multi-year deal. Apart from that, he also helped in recruiting Watson personally.

SoCal connection

During his introductory press conference with the Cavaliers on Thursday evening, Watson shared how much of a role Harden played in bringing him to Cleveland.

“Not only what he means to the league, but what he means to me as a kid coming from Southern California, getting a call or text from him throughout my process to let me know the Cleveland Cavaliers are interested,” Watson said. “Not only that, him individually, is interested in playing with me as a player. It feels like I can mesh well on this team.”

Watson also spoke about what it means to have someone like Harden actively pursue an opportunity to bring him on the team.

“That matters a lot because obviously, he has one of the great basketball minds we’ve ever seen. Being embraced by him immediately was something that was very flattering to me because I’ve worked my whole life… I was super, super blessed to hear from him and it made me more excited about what my role could be on the team,” Watson said.

The constant connection from Harden, Watson added, helped him feel welcomed and valued by the Cavaliers.

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“When I got that call and was informed that I was gonna be a Cleveland Cavalier, it just made it mean that much more to me because I knew I was being embraced from day one from the team, front office, that just matters.”

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What Watson brings to the table

As mentioned earlier, the six-foot-eight Watson brings a different level of size, athleticism and defensive presence to the Cavaliers‘ starting small forward position.

In the last two seasons, Dean Wade and Max Strus have been the Cavaliers’ primary small forwards, but the two have largely been inconsistent. Wade was a defensive anchor, but was usually a non-factor when it came to offense, while Strus was offensively better than Wade, but lacked the size to defend.

Watson has shown that he can create his own shots on the offensive end, as well as switch well on the defensive end, which makes him an asset on both sides of the floor.

What’s more is that with guys like Harden, Donovan Mitchell and Mobley, Watson won’t necessarily be looked on to be a primary scorer, but he’ll be more than capable when his number is called.

Judging from his time in Denver, Watson shone when he played with an elite playmaker and he has exactly that in Cleveland with Harden.

At the end of the day, while Watson isn’t LeBron, he’s younger and more athletic, which likely suits the Cavaliers better. Plus, he also has the potential to become a franchise cornerstone in the coming years, alongside Mobley, who’s also only 25 years old.

Related: Peyton Watson explains why perfect defense can’t stop Kyrie Irving: “A painter with an open canvas”

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This story was originally published September 18, 2026 at 10:19 AM.