Earl Watson does not know how the Nuggets’ crowded backcourt will shake out. But his days at UCLA gave him a head start on building chemistry with a new teammate.
When Watson was a young Bruins guard in the late 1990s, Andre Miller would return to his hometown of Los Angeles to play in summer games with him.
Miller returns as the clear incumbent and starter when training camp opens Oct. 3, but things could get crowded with Watson and Earl Boykins backing him up at the point and the Nuggets also expecting to carry four shooting guards. Watson, who signed a five-year deal believed to be worth $29.3 million this month, said he is not worried.
“Coming in right away, no one promised me anything,” Watson said Wednesday. “I’ve come here just to play, help the team. Everything else will fall into place. I’m going to play hard. I’m going to push whoever’s in my position.”
Watson blossomed into a part-time starter and defensive standout with Memphis the past three seasons, but he said he began thinking about other destinations when coach Hubie Brown left the Grizzlies for health reasons early last season.
Watson hopes to find success similar to the run the Nuggets went on this spring.
“They reminded me a lot of how we were the year we won 50,” he said, referring to the 2003-04 Grizzlies.
Footnotes
The Nuggets’ games at New Orleans will take place Nov. 16 in Oklahoma City and March 18 in Baton Rouge, La. ESPN reported the latter game could be shifted back to New Orleans. … Denver center Marcus Camby kicked off the second year Marcus’ Mentors. The program matches eight high school mentors with 18 fourth- and fifth-graders from Denver’s Mitchell Elementary. At the end of the year, each high-schooler is eligible for a $2,500 college scholarship.
Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or athompson@denverpost.com.
