Brooklyn Nets' Trendon Watford Emerging as Unlikely Facilitator

This past offseason, the Brooklyn Nets inked Trendon Watford to a one-year, $2.7 million contract. Midway through the lone season of his deal, Watford looks primed to cash in at the conclusion of the 2024-25 campaign.

Watford has tallied double-digits in the scoring column in each of his last six appearances while serving as an offensive facilitator of late. He's made such an impact on the Nets' mid-season resurgence, and he's doing so without playing over 24 minutes of action throughout his personal hot streak.

In last night's 107-99 loss to the Washington Wizards, Watford recorded 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists in the former undrafted forward out of LSU's latest well-rounded display.

“I’m having fun, just being able to play on-ball and do different things and use my skill set to the best of my ability. Starting this year off with some injuries and now being able to pick it back up, man, it’s fun,” Watford said via Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “So I’m just glad. We put in a lot of work, I put in a lot of work, and now it’s just good to see it paying off.” 

During Watford's time with the Portland Trail Blazers, he was used completely differently. Now emerging as a primary ball handler in Brooklyn, teammate Cam Johnson recalled past matchups against the then-under-utilized small-ball center.

“It’s funny because when he was in Portland, we played him plenty of times, and we were just like, ‘Oh, he’s a 5-man. He’s not the tallest, but he’s a 5-man that can maybe put the ball on the ground a little bit,” Johnson said. “But here he’s really found a place where he can flourish. And we encourage him to be that guy, to be his best self.” 

After the falter in Washington, the Nets now sit a game-and-a-half back of the Chicago Bulls for the 10-seed in the Eastern Conference. If the team hopes to continue its push toward the postseason, Watford's newfound success must be replicated — especially as Cam Thomas, Noah Clowney and D'Angelo Russell remain out with injuries.

Brooklyn returns to action at home tomorrow against the Oklahoma City Thunder at 7:30 p.m. EST.