Peyton Watson/Max Strus Trade Grades

The Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, and LA Clippers, adjudicated

After striking out in the LeBron James sweepstakes, the Cavs finally landed their Fifth Piece (trademark pending) around Donovan Mitchell, the assuredly soon-to-be-signed James Harden, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen.

The major deets¹:

Cavs receive: Peyton Watson
Nuggets receive: 2031 Cavs first-round pick, a 2032 Kings second-round pick
Clippers receive: Max Strus

Let me acknowledge my biases up front: I’m a big-time Peyton Watson believer, and have been for several seasons. I love the way he provides legitimate weakside rim protection without sacrificing on-ball defense, I love the way his corner three-pointer has evolved (nearly fifty percent in his last two seasons, on admittedly small volume), and I love the flashes of on-ball chutzpah he showed while carrying the Nuggets for a brief stretch last season.

The analyst in me is compelled to mention that a lot of this is based on relatively low minutes, that he missed a huge chunk of last season with a dreaded hamstring injury, that his actual self-creation skills were not as overwhelmingly effective as the propaganda (*cough, cough*) would have you believe… and that he might not actually be that much better than Cleveland’s rising third-year wing Jaylon Tyson?

I don’t care. The Cavaliers desperately needed a better perimeter defender who could also contribute offensively. Watson is at his best guarding quick ballhandlers, so he can take on the other team’s point guard with aplomb. He’s got excellent lateral quickness and a seven-foot wingspan, allowing him to pterodactyl smaller mice and apex predators alike:

Few players this side of Derrick White have as many where-the-hell-did-he-come-from blocks:

Watson isn’t a perfect defensive player (he can be prone to over-helping, and he’s so thin!), but he’s very good and very versatile — a huge plus for a Cavs team with little positional flexibility up and down the roster.

Offensively, whatever nits you want to pluck from last year’s fur, Watson proved he’s more than capable of being the fourth option on most nights. The fit next to Mobley and Allen won’t be perfectly snug. Watson will need to up his three-point volume — 4.5 per 75 possessions is a below-average number, nearly two fewer than what Tyson was jacking up and less than half of what we’ve seen from Max Strus in the past. But if the accuracy remains as high as it’s been (39% on 333 attempts over the last two seasons), defenses will respect him with even a modest uptick.

I’m a fan of what Tyson provided as a shooter, passer, and offensive rebounder last season, and Watson won’t likely match him in those categories. Strus has a psychotic edge the occasionally soft Cavaliers need, and he’s an absolute gunslinger.