Four days from the deadline to reach a contract extension, Nuggets forward Peyton Watson remains more focused on his play than pay.

With Friday’s preseason finale at Oklahoma City separating Watson from the start of his fourth NBA season, Denver’s key reserve is feeling better than ever.

“Just go out there, play hard, work on my conditioning, stay healthy,” Watson answered Thursday when asked what he needed to accomplish against the Thunder to feel ready for Denver’s season-opener on Oct. 23.

“Our coaching staff has really put a lot of trust and belief in me this entire preseason and training camp to go out there and kind of play more like myself and have the ball in my hands, make decisions. I’ve been able to work on a lot of things just in live action games against really, really talented players. I think that’s always good for confidence. It’s always good for my sharpness. I feel great. This is the best I’ve felt going into a season. I feel really, really confident, and I’m ready to play.”

Part of that was Watson’s decision to spend more time playing in scrimmages over the summer. That wasn’t the case a year ago, and Watson feels like he paid the price.

“I honestly feel as though the more you play, the more you build the endurance to be able to continue to play through this long season. I feel like last summer I didn’t play as much, and I got that soft-tissue hamstring injury right before the season. My body wasn’t able to withstand going from just shooting spot shots to playing a live-action game,” Watson said.

“I played a lot more this summer, and I honestly think it was the best thing I could’ve done for my body.”

Watson, Christian Braun and the rest of the eligible members of the 2022 draft class have until 4 p.m. Monday to sign contract extensions. Kings forward Keegan Murray became the sixth member of the draft class to get a new deal, a five-year extension worth $140 million, on Wednesday. Magic forward Paolo Banchero, Thunder center Chet Holmgren, Thunder forward Jalen Williams, Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. and Heat forward Nikola Jovic were the first to get extensions done.

The lingering deadline can become a distraction, but David Adelman doesn’t believe that’s been the case in Denver.

“I haven’t seen anything that has to do with contract stuff with our guys at all. That’s their own situation,” the Nuggets’ coach said. “On our team, if you play selfishly, it sure as hell shows up, because we move the ball. We play the right way.”

Watson has been more involved in dictating where the ball goes in Denver’s new-look second unit throughout preseason. He’s largely split the ball-handling responsibilities with Bruce Brown in a unit that can play a style closer to that of Denver’s starters thanks to the addition of Jonas Valanciunas.

“It’s still developing. Peyton’s been really impressive, but the difference will be when they decide to put their main defender on Peyton, and we want to get him off the ball. Can other guys handle that responsibility? It’s a challenge to the players, because you have to know the calls as a point guard or lead guard just as well as a guy like Jamal (Murray) does or when Aaron (Gordon) brings the ball up or whatever it is,” Adelman said. “It’s not just about the ability to bring the ball up. It’s about the knowledge of what you’re trying to accomplish when you do it. We just have to keep putting the ball in other people’s hands and see how they can succeed.”

After an offseason of change – in Watson’s role and the personnel around him – the Nuggets enter the season with championship aspirations. That comes with pressure. So would a new contract, but Watson sounds more concerned with the collective’s success than individual profit.

“Expectations come with the responsibility of the job. I think we have a really good team. I think the whole NBA world knows that,” Watson said.

“It’s all about going out there and being a team on the court and having that chemistry and gelling and getting better throughout the year. I think from Game 1 to Game 82, there’s going to be a drastic improvement just in our chemistry and the way we play together. … I think it’s going to make all the difference come playoff time.”