A few days into training camp, Kenny Atkinson is already seeing the trait the Cavaliers were chasing when they brought in Peyton Watson from the Nuggets: activity.
“If I give you a one-word answer, it would be activity,” Atkinson told reporters Friday in Spain. “He looks like one of these guys that he’s super active, kind of on both sides of the ball.”
That’s the kind of early read Cleveland wanted to hear. Watson arrived with the idea that he could add size and athleticism on the wing, and do it without needing the ball in his hands. He can guard multiple positions, run the floor in transition, cut, rebound and generally stay involved in the action.
That part is showing up already. The other side of the equation is still coming along.
Watson is learning a brand-new system after spending his first four NBA seasons in Denver, and Atkinson said that adjustment is still very much in progress.
“Just adapting, right? Adapting to what we are doing,” he said. “I think that he’s still in the learning phase, learning what we’re doing.”
That’s the point of camp. The Cavaliers do not need Watson to have every detail nailed down in October. They need him to grow into the long, athletic two-way wing they have been trying to find.
It is still early, and nobody is handing out awards for a few practices in Spain. But when the first word from Atkinson is the exact one Cleveland was hoping for, that’s a pretty solid start.
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Kenny Atkinson Is Challenging The Cavs In One Crucial Way
The Cavaliers have taken their preseason work overseas, using training camp in Malaga, Spain, as more than just a chance to get shots up and legs under them. Kenny Atkinson has framed the trip as a test of adaptation, with the staff leaning into team bonding, scrimmaging, conditioning and mental drills as Cleveland tries to build a sharper foundation before the season begins. Peyton Watson and the rest of the group are getting a very different kind of camp than the usual routine back home.
What makes the setup notable is the emphasis on the part of the game that can be easy to overlook in October: how a team responds when the environment changes and the work gets uncomfortable. Atkinson has made mental performance a priority in Malaga, and the Cavaliers are trying to turn that into camaraderie and resilience as they prepare for what comes next. The real question is how much of that edge carries over once the trip ends and the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
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Donovan Mitchell Just Added Real Heat To Cavaliers Opening Night
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Mitchell was brought in before the 2022-23 season and has since locked in his long-term future with a four-year, $273 million extension, so this is very much his team now. Cleveland will open the season with Mitchell in the lineup against James 76ers, a matchup that already carries the kind of storyline the NBA likes to package and fans in Cleveland will not need much convincing to circle on the calendar. [Read more 🡒]