The Cavs TRADED For Peyton Watson!
Aug 20, 2026 · 1 hr 52 min · 14 segments
Cleveland has acquired Peyton Watson in exchange for Max Strus and picks. They finally got the wing they've been searching for. Let's talk about it!
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- Mack PerryHost
Aug 20, 2026 · 1 hr 52 min · 14 segments
Cleveland has acquired Peyton Watson in exchange for Max Strus and picks. They finally got the wing they've been searching for. Let's talk about it!
It's your boy Mac, and in case you've been living under a rock or you don't have your phone handy like I didn't, like I had to get a notification on my watch as I'm washing dishes, the Cleveland Cavaliers have finally done it, ladies and gentlemen.
As has been tweeted out by ESPN Sham Charania, Cleveland, Denver, and the Clippers have agreed on a trade sending Peyton Watson to the Cavaliers, Max Strus to LA where he goes with Darius Garland, another former Cav, and an unprotected 2031 Cavs first-round pick and a 2032 Kings second-rounder to the Nuggets.
Watson, and here's a key point right here, Watson will sign a new four-year, eighty-eight million dollar deal to join the Cavaliers, plus a player option and a trade kicker.
Listen, all I know is that what we had been hearing up to this point was that Jalen Tyson, Max Strus, prior to Dennis's trade, all of these names were being mentioned as possible departures to bring in a athletic wing that finally fits the mold of what Cleveland wants.
And I've been going back and forth with people all day about Jalen Tyson not being the one moved, so to those people, suck it.
You could say what you want about Max and his flame out, right, against the Indiana Pacers.
You can talk about Max's inability to stay on the court at times due to the injuries, ill-fated might I add.
But one thing I cannot question about Max Strus is his willingness to want to win basketball games.
This is as professional a ballplayer as you will ever get, and LA is getting a good one.
He just didn't necessarily, in, in terms of the current roster construction, not somebody that I think was going to be a long-standing member of this roster moving forward.
He was the most en- enticing asset outside of Jarrett Allen that the Cavaliers were probably willing to dangle out there, and there's a reason why his name was being floated, just because the Cavaliers, they clearly still believe in the developmental timeline of Jalen Tyson.
They have now a newfound talent in Malik Thomas, who apparently they believe they found them when they got one.
But at the end of the day, Peyton Watson, the size, the athleticism, the defensive versatility, the off-ball shot-making, that right there, my friends, was just too much to pass up on.
Like, I, I, I understand the qualms in reference to the, the gamble that the Cavaliers are taking, because let's be clear, this is still a gamble.
I pointed this out in a video earlier on, but much of his production is based on a run in January, a 15-game stretch in which he averaged twenty-one point nine points, five point five rebounds, three assists, but this dude shot forty-six point two percent from three-point distance and forty-nine percent from the floor overall in those 15 games.
And it wasn't like he didn't have good stretches to open this season prior to that.
In the month of December that preceded that, he averaged twelve point eight points, four boards, and shot fifty point five percent from the field, including thirty-five point one percent from deep.
In the month prior to that, November, in which he started nine games, he averaged eleven point one points, five point five rebounds, and still shot essentially 50% from the floor and around thirty-eight point three percent from three-point distance.
So he had couple of key stretches last year that bolstered his chances of securing a payday heading into this year, and that's exactly what's happened.
Despite appearing in just 54 games during the 2025-26 season, Peyton Watson is looking like an upside play.
It's your boy Mac, and in case you've been living under a rock or you don't have your phone handy like I didn't, like I had to get a notification on my watch as I'm washing dishes, the Cleveland Cavaliers have finally done it, ladies and gentlemen.
As has been tweeted out by ESPN Sham Charania, Cleveland, Denver, and the Clippers have agreed on a trade sending Peyton Watson to the Cavaliers, Max Strus to LA where he goes with Darius Garland, another former Cav, and an unprotected 2031 Cavs first-round pick and a 2032 Kings second-rounder to the Nuggets.
Watson, and here's a key point right here, Watson will sign a new four-year, eighty-eight million dollar deal to join the Cavaliers, plus a player option and a trade kicker.
Listen, all I know is that what we had been hearing up to this point was that Jalen Tyson, Max Strus, prior to Dennis's trade, all of these names were being mentioned as possible departures to bring in a athletic wing that finally fits the mold of what Cleveland wants.
And I've been going back and forth with people all day about Jalen Tyson not being the one moved, so to those people, suck it.
You could say what you want about Max and his flame out, right, against the Indiana Pacers.
You can talk about Max's inability to stay on the court at times due to the injuries, ill-fated might I add.
But one thing I cannot question about Max Strus is his willingness to want to win basketball games.
This is as professional a ballplayer as you will ever get, and LA is getting a good one.
He just didn't necessarily, in, in terms of the current roster construction, not somebody that I think was going to be a long-standing member of this roster moving forward.
He was the most en- enticing asset outside of Jarrett Allen that the Cavaliers were probably willing to dangle out there, and there's a reason why his name was being floated, just because the Cavaliers, they clearly still believe in the developmental timeline of Jalen Tyson.
They have now a newfound talent in Malik Thomas, who apparently they believe they found them when they got one.
But at the end of the day, Peyton Watson, the size, the athleticism, the defensive versatility, the off-ball shot-making, that right there, my friends, was just too much to pass up on.
Like, I, I, I understand the qualms in reference to the, the gamble that the Cavaliers are taking, because let's be clear, this is still a gamble.
I pointed this out in a video earlier on, but much of his production is based on a run in January, a 15-game stretch in which he averaged twenty-one point nine points, five point five rebounds, three assists, but this dude shot forty-six point two percent from three-point distance and forty-nine percent from the floor overall in those 15 games.
And it wasn't like he didn't have good stretches to open this season prior to that.
In the month of December that preceded that, he averaged twelve point eight points, four boards, and shot fifty point five percent from the field, including thirty-five point one percent from deep.
In the month prior to that, November, in which he started nine games, he averaged eleven point one points, five point five rebounds, and still shot essentially 50% from the floor and around thirty-eight point three percent from three-point distance.
So he had couple of key stretches last year that bolstered his chances of securing a payday heading into this year, and that's exactly what's happened.
Despite appearing in just 54 games during the 2025-26 season, Peyton Watson is looking like an upside play.
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