After Cleveland Cavs All-Star Donovan Mitchell signed a $273 million extension over the summer, it helped the team on a path toward landing Peyton Watson. Mitchell sees plenty of upside with Watson joining the Cavs, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
Mitchell believes adding Watson will turn the Cavs into one of the best defensive teams in the NBA.
“I think we could be a top-five defense. I believe that at our, when I first got here, our first two years we were a top-ten, wasn’t it? Something like that. I think there’s people we’ve added, like Peyton,” Mitchell said. “I think a full year of camp and kind of trying not to give too much, but things we’ve added, things we’ve done, I think it kind of helped with that as well. Last year we changed some things, and then also adding James, we were trying to change stuff on the fly.
“I think this year coming in, I’m really excited about what we can do as far as protecting our paint, protecting ourselves, protecting each other out there on the floor. I think we’ll do a better job; that’s for sure.”
Peyton Watson agreed to a four-year, $88 million extension following his trade from the Denver Nuggets. After watching New York Knicks’ OG Anunoby’s heroics and importance to the defending champions in last season’s Finals victory against the San Antonio Spurs, Watson has already drawn comparisons to the Knicks legend.
Watson’s 3-and-D approach at wing should affect Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs on both ends of the floor as they look to build on their 4-0 loss to the Knicks in last season’s Eastern Conference Finals.