Watson Is Gone From the Roster. Tonight Tests Who Replaces His Minutes
Denver's best lineups last season ran through Peyton Watson, who isn't on this roster, and tonight's game against Chicago is the first real test of whether the group built around his minutes can replace them.
Denver hosts Chicago tonight in its third preseason game, rested on four days off while the Bulls arrive on one day of rest during a road trip. Both teams enter 0-0, but the lineups each coach uses tonight will say more than the score does.
What did Denver lose when Watson left the roster?
Last season's two most effective lineups both ran through Peyton Watson. The Jokic-Murray-Johnson-Watson-Spencer Jones group outscored opponents by more than 20 points for every 100 possessions across 171 minutes, and a bench-heavy Valanciunas-Hardaway-Murray-Brown-Watson group was nearly as good across 96. Watson isn't on Denver's 21-man roster this fall. Nugg Love wrote this week that Denver's bench has split his old minutes several different ways; tonight is where that claim meets the floor.
Why tonight, specifically?
Spencer Jones has been sidelined since October 2 because of a hamstring strain, and Denver's own estimate lists his return for today, October 11 — the Bulls game. If he plays, it is the first chance to see whether that top lineup's chemistry survives swapping him in alongside whoever takes Watson's place, rather than alongside Watson himself.
Does Chicago's own health change the read?
Chicago, for its part, arrives thinner: Nic Claxton, Matas Buzelis, Tre Jones, Jaylin Sellers, Jalen Smith and Zach Collins are all day-to-day on the second leg of a short road trip. That works in Denver's favor tonight, but it isn't the question that matters past October.
What's still open
What's unresolved is whether tonight's group resembles the Jokic-Murray-Johnson-Jones lineup that worked last season or something built from scratch. The answer carries into stops at the Clippers on October 14 and the Lakers on October 16, before the regular-season opener at Oklahoma City on October 22.
Is Spencer Jones playing tonight against the Bulls?
He has been sidelined since October 2 because of a hamstring strain, and Denver's own estimate lists his return for October 11 — tonight's game.
Why does Peyton Watson's absence matter for Denver's lineups?
Two of Denver's three best-performing lineups last season included Watson, so whoever takes his minutes shapes how well that continuity holds up tonight.
