Peyton Watson earns biggest honor of his career

Denver Nuggets wing Peyton Watson was the best player in the Western Conference, named Player of the Week on Monday

Jan 12, 2026, 1:57 PM

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Peyton Watson was the best player in the Western Conference this past week, don’t believe me — the NBA said it themselves. The league announced Watson as the West Player of the Week on Monday.

The Nuggets wing earned the honor for Week 12 of the 2025-26 season (Jan. 5-11), sharing the spotlight with Toronto’s Scottie Barnes, who took home Eastern Conference honors.

Watson, 23, has delivered a statement performance during Denver’s most challenging stretch of the season. With three-time MVP Nikola Jokic sidelined with a left knee injury and Jamal Murray missing two games this week, Watson has stepped into an ever-changing role and thrived. He headlined the week with a 30-point outburst in an impressive 114-110 road win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday — Denver’s 14-0 fourth-quarter run snapping Boston’s five-game win streak.

Watson shot 10-of-15 from the field and 6-of-7 from three-point range to out-duel the league’s second-best offense, pouring in nine of his points during that decisive fourth-quarter surge. He also became just the 11th Nuggets player in about 20 years to have a six-game streak where he scored at least 20 points in a row. That ended on Sunday when he had just 19 but made a ton of contributions with eight rebounds and six assists in the Nuggets’ win over the Bucks.

The former UCLA product tallied 24.5 points and eight rebounds this week while shooting 70% from deep. All of his key metrics — scoring, minutes, efficiency and overall offensive production — are career highs just as he hit a contract year. The Nuggets declined to give Watson an option this offseason, instead choosing only to give one to Christina Braun. That makes Watson, who has stepped up mostly in the absence of Braun, a highly coveted restricted free agent this summer.

It’s the first Player of the Week award of Watson’s career and a breakout moment for the Beverly Hills native, who struggled to find playing time during his lone season at UCLA and early on in his NBA career.

Watson wins the award for the first time in his career and becomes the 20th different Nugget in franchise history to be named Player of the Week. He’s the third Nuggets player to win the award this season, joining Murray and Jokic.

Denver Nuggets guard-forward Peyton Watson and Toronto Raptors forward-guard Scottie Barnes have been named the NBA Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for Week 12 of the 2025-26 season (Jan. 5-11). pic.twitter.com/5OHMiuBheG

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 12, 2026