PLAYER PROFILE

C.J. Watson

POINT GUARD

Height: 6’2”
Weight: 175
Birthday: April 17, 1984
Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
Years Pro: 5
Twitter: @quietstorm_32


Nickname: Quiet Storm
Nickname I’d Give Him: Nothing. I can't top Quiet Storm and neither can you.

How He Got Here: The Nets signed Watson to a two-year deal this offseason. Watson had offers elsewhere, but chose to back up Deron Williams at a discount.

Contract: Watson earns the veteran’s minimum, with a player option for the second year. If he opts in, he'll earn about $2.1 million over the two years.

Strengths

The backup point guard, Watson is a solid shooter from beyond the arc (39.3% from deep in the last two seasons) and can control the pace off the bench. Watson is as quick as any backup point guard in the league and possesses slick ballhandling skills, particularly on the break.

Weaknesses

Watson is one of the league’s worst finishers at the rim and is largely useless as a shooter from inside the three-point line. He’s well-suited as a backup and will help space the floor with bigs that can score, but don’t expect much good from his dribble-penetration.

Three revealing numbers

1) 39.3%. Watson has hit exactly 39.3% of his shots from beyond the arc in each of the last two seasons.

2) 35.7%. Conversely, Watson has hit 35.7% of his shots from inside the arc in the last two seasons, and ranked third-worst in the NBA in shots converted directly at the rim, behind decrepit point guards Jason Kidd and Derek Fisher.

3) 1.113. Easily his most effective offensive skill, Watson scored 1.113 points per possession spotting up last season, putting him in the top 12% of the NBA. Even as a point guard, he may be best suited off the ball as a decoy once the Nets start running plays.

High point

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQBhmNcgxCY

Low point

As a role player, you don't often get low points: when you mess up, nobody notices. But here's one particularly embarrassing moment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KiL8OQ9zDM

From The Coach

"(He) thought this would be a great opportunity when (he) looked at our roster. … CJ knows: Deron is the man, he's the starter. He knows he'll get some minutes with Deron, some minutes without him. C.J. understands having an opportunity to play with Brook (Lopez) and play with Joe (Johnson) and (Kris) Humphries and all those guys, it makes a difference."