Aaron Gordon on Peyton Watson’s exit: ‘Deeper than basketball’

Aaron Gordon got straight to the point when asked about the Denver Nuggets’ offseason Sunday.

“We’ll see,” Gordon told the Denver Post before running a youth basketball camp in Lakewood.

Gordon’s comments on Peyton Watson, the teammate Denver shipped to Cleveland in a sign-and-trade last month, were a little less vague.

“That’s my dog. But it’s deeper than basketball with Peyton and I, you know?” Gordon told the Post’s Bennett Durando. “Like, our family members go to the same church.”

Gordon and Watson vacationed together earlier this summer, celebrating former teammate Michael Porter Jr.’s birthday in France. The two built a bond over four seasons in Denver that extended well beyond the court — and Gordon made clear he would have preferred Watson stayed.

“Peyton is like my brother,” Gordon said. “I’m happy for him, the situation that he’s in. Obviously, we would have loved to have him. But it worked out the way that it should have, that it was supposed to.”

Nobody on the Nuggets’ roster understands the complexity of Watson’s exit better than Gordon. He played through a hamstring injury in the second round of last year’s playoffs — the same injury that sidelined Watson during Denver’s first-round loss to Minnesota — and hasn’t been healthy for six weeks straight since. But Gordon had already signed his deal when he played through the pain. Watson hadn’t. The players know this, even if they won’t say it explicitly.

Watson signed a four-year, $88 million contract with the Cavaliers after the Nuggets chose to shed his projected salary rather than absorb a tax bill ESPN’s Bobby Marks estimated could have reached $238 million in penalties. Denver received an unprotected 2031 Cavaliers first-round pick and a 2032 Kings second-rounder — a return I’ve written at length was a money dump dressed up as a trade.

Nikola Jokic addressed the deal from Belgrade last month, calling Watson deserving and saying Denver would miss his energy. “It’s gonna be OK,” Jokic said. Gordon’s tone was less reassuring and more in line with the fanbase.

But Gordon has responded in the way you’d want your veteran leader to respond — by showing up. The Denver Post reported that Gordon has been a consistent presence in the Ball Arena practice gym this summer. Publicly, we saw that he orchestrated a team bonding trip to Puerto Rico, where Nuggets assistant coach JJ Barea has converted an abandoned private school into a sports complex.

Much of Denver’s roster attended, including Cam Johnson, Spencer Jones, Julian Strawther, Tyus Jones, DaRon Holmes II and rookies Trevon Brazile and Bryce Hopkins. Jokic, Jamal Murray and Christian Braun had prior commitments.

“I thought we could do something out of the norm,” Gordon said. “Everybody goes to LA all the time. I wanted us to do something that was out of our comfort zone as a team, and it ended up being a good exhibition.”

Gordon, who turns 31 this week, enters the season with his $32 million salary kicking in and a roster that has shed Watson and Porter in consecutive summers — the two most exciting wings developed during the Jokic era. The Nuggets added DeMar DeRozan on a veteran minimum deal and drafted Brazile and Hopkins. Yet the talent on the roster and the fit are all less certain than it has been since before the title season.

“The rookies are good,” he said. “Bryce is really good. TB is really good. They can go.”

Training camp opens later this month in Boulder. Gordon said he’s been focusing on his mind this offseason. If his body responds, he’s one of the biggest swing factors in the league. The Nuggets outplayed their opponents by 13.8 points per 100 possessions with AG, against just +3.1 without him.

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