Watson Not Ready to Demand Trade Yet

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">OKLAHOMA CITY - Earl Watson knows what happens Dec. 15.
"I am eligible to be traded," he said.

What is this? Another story of an athlete demanding a trade?

Hardly.

Entering Wednesday, the point guard hadn't played in seven of eight games for the Denver Nuggets after signing a five-year, $29 million contract as a free agent.

There has been speculation Watson could be a candidate to be dealt Dec. 15, the first day players who signed as free agents during the off- season can be moved.

But Watson, despite being stuck behind point guards Andre Miller and Earl Boykins, won't be campaigning for a trade.

"I came (to Denver) because I want to play here," Watson said before a 91-81 victory against the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. "I'm not one of those players that puts quotes in the papers, 'I want to be traded.'

"That's easy. I say that right now. 'That's easy.' But I never take the easy way. If I did, I would have given up a long time ago. They said in Kansas City (Kan., where he grew up), I wouldn't play Division I basketball, let alone sign a letter of intent at UCLA."

After the game, Watson certainly had no desire to be moved. He got his first extended playing time this season, finishing with 10 points and three steals in slightly less than 21 minutes.

"You should tip your hat to Earl Watson," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "He's very much a pro. He stayed involved. He stayed focused. He had a hell of game. . . . Maybe (the Nuggets now will) play more guys who know how to pass and know how to play. Right now, we need more playmakers on the court, and maybe that's the way we should play."

Watson, though, is taking nothing for granted.

"No matter what, whether I'm playing a lot or not, I'm going to stay consistent in my emotions," he said. "Not too high and low. . . . You could celebrate too much and, before you know it, everything can change."

Watson said he was "surprised" about his inactivity to start the season and that it has been "tough." But teammates have lauded him for not moaning about a lack of minutes.

"He's been real professional about his playing time," forward Carmelo Anthony said. "I think that anybody in that situation would be complaining about his playing time."

Watson has seen plenty of others do that.

"I hear about guys playing 20 to 30 minutes talking about wanting to get traded," he said before the game. "I'm trying to get 10."

On Wednesday, Watson got double that. </div>

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