The Toronto Raptors organization has a type, in the same way I do. I love dark hair, tattoos, and loud personalities—the Raptors like long wings with two-way potential. There were few players in free agency this summer who fit Toronto's type better than Peyton Watson.
Instead of pursuing the 23-year-old, Bobby Webster put all his eggs in the Kawhi Leonard basket. But with that move now in jeopardy, missing out on Watson could be a major opportunity to give Scottie Barnes a long-term wing partner who fits everything the Raptors love.
Now, I know the immediate reaction to this is that the Raptors didn’t have the financial flexibility to sign Watson this offseason. Which is true. However, a bit of creativity could’ve changed that. If Webster looked to move Ingram in a deal that wasn’t the Kawhi one, he could've created a trade exception that would’ve perfectly fit the type of contract Watson wanted.
I’m not saying that the Raptors front office made a mistake by pulling the trigger on the deal they did with the Clippers. But the longer the holdup, the more obvious it becomes that Toronto could’ve waited and been in the Watson sweepstakes.
Watson would've been a great long-term fit next to Barnes
Last season, Watson averaged 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.0 stocks (steals plus blocks) while shooting 49.1 percent from the floor, 41.1 percent from three and 73 percent from the line. The two immediate things that stand out in his stat line are his three-point shooting and his defensive numbers. He has elite 3-and-D wing potential and could be a great connective piece, which is the conclusion most fans have probably come to with Watson. I see a much higher ceiling for him, mainly because of the production he gave Denver when Nikola Jokic was out.
In the 15 games Watson played in without Jokic from December 31, 2025, to January 29, 2026, the former UCLA Bruin showed second-option-level production. In that 15-game sample, Watson averaged 22.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.6 stocks (steals plus blocks) while shooting 48.6 percent from the floor and 44.3 percent from three. On top of that, he also kept the Nuggets above .500 in that stretch, as they posted a 9-6 record in the games he played.
While we’ve seen players have strong 10- or 15-game sample sizes that amount to nothing, what Watson did was different. He had a confidence to him that screamed a player who wanted a bigger role all the time, and Toronto theoretically could’ve been the place for him to get that. The combination of scoring off the dribble, creating his own shot, running the pick-and-roll, and not losing a step defensively made me truly buy into him having star potential.
As I mentioned earlier, Watson is only 23 years old and will be 24 by the start of next season, making him someone who could’ve grown alongside Scottie Barnes for the next five-plus years. Even if his offensive game didn’t take the jump into a 20+ point per game scorer that I believed he could be, the Raptors would still have a tier A defensive wing pairing.
Obviously, none of this matters now that the door is shut. But it’s still an incredibly fun possibility to think about and something that could’ve been in play if Toronto hadn't pulled the trigger on the Kawhi Leonard trade. Fingers crossed that deal goes through; if not, missing out on Watson could age like milk.
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