Will Trendon Watford be back with the Nets next season?
The Brooklyn Nets are early into their offseason plans as they have hired Jordi Fernandez to be the head coach of the team as it moves into the next era. One of the main matters that Brooklyn has to address is what players will be coming back next season, including an versatile, young forward.
In a recent episode of the HoopsHype podcast, HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto and Brian Lewis of the New York Post spoke on various topics involving the Nets’ offseason. One of those topics was the impending restricted free-agency of forward Trendon Watford as Brooklyn has some important decisions to make this summer.
“I liked what I saw out of Trendon, but something tells me under 50 percent he’ll be back,” Lewis said of Watford in terms of how likely it is that he’ll come back to Brooklyn for next season. Watford, 23, came to the Nets last season on a one-year, $2 million deal after being waived by the Portland Trail Blazers earlier in the offseason.
While Watford had some interest from the fanbase due to the versatility that he brings to a team’s frontcourt, he was mostly out of the rotation when the Nets were mostly healthy. Towards the end of the season, Watford saw a more prominent role in the offense due to some unfortunate injuries to a few members of the normal rotation.
In the month of April, Watford averaged 12.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 48.4% from the field and 38.5% from three-point land. The last month of the season showed how much Watford can impact the team when he saw the playing time, but it’s fair to wonder if Watford would be able to do it over an extended period of time.
Whether Watford comes back to Brooklyn or not, similar to many of the Nets’ free-agents, will depend on what kind of offer he gets from another team and if Brooklyn is willing to match an initial offer sheet. Time will tell how the rest of the NBA views Watford, but the Nets should be willing to bring him back to provide frontcourt depth.
