Trendon Watford Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nets Notes: Claxton, Whitehead, Watford, Fernandez

July 13th, 2024 at 6:24pm CST by Arthur Hill

As they begin the rebuilding process, the Nets made sure to hang onto center Nic Claxton, whom they believe could eventually become the NBA’s best defender, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Before reaching free agency, Claxton agreed to a four-year deal that contains $97MM in guaranteed money. He’ll be part of the roster foundation that Brooklyn will try to build around.

“He was our priority this summer,” new head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “He’s a big part of what we’re trying to do, obviously age-wise and how he’s progressed all these years. And we — me personally, and the organization — believe that he’s still getting much better. [He can win] Defensive Player of the Year. He’s a good play-maker, he can be even a better play-maker. We’re excited about his development. We’re excited that he’s part of the organization for a long time.”

Claxton’s production has steadily increased since he was selected with the 31st pick in the 2019 draft. He averaged a career-high 9.9 rebounds in 71 games last season, along with 11.8 points and 2.1 blocks. He gives the Nets a strong interior presence on both ends of the court as they try to reshape the rest of the roster into a contender.

“It’s great to have homegrown talent here,” general manager Sean Marks said. “Nic fits in a variety [of] different pathways we want to go. He’s young, he’s still scratching the surface here, and I just love his overall approach to him wanting more and more and more development. So now, with some of the changes to our roster, I think we’ll see even more from Nic as we move forward.”

There’s more on the Nets:

Dariq Whitehead admitted he had some “rust” during Friday’s Summer League opener, but he felt good being back on the court after undergoing three surgeries in 18 months, Lewis states in a separate story. The 22nd pick in the 2023 draft was limited to two NBA games and four G League contests last season, but he’s feeling fully healthy for the first time since high school. “Just being able to move laterally, just being able to beat someone to the spot, I haven’t been able to do that in a long time. So I’m just taking that as a stepping stone for me just being able to do that. It feels so good just to be out there and be able to move my feet side-to-side laterally again,” Whitehead said. “So just continue to take baby steps and knock the rust off and eventually get going.”
Trendon Watford is happy to have some security after accepting a one-year qualifying offer this week, Lewis adds in another piece. Twelve months ago, Watford was searching for an NBA job after being waived by Portland. He signed with the Nets in August and appeared in 63 games, playing his best basketball late in the season when interim coach Kevin Ollie leaned heavily on the team’s younger players. Watford reached double figures in scoring in eight of Brooklyn’s final 11 games.
In a subscriber-only story, Lewis looks at how Fernandez is already making an impact on his new team.

Nets’ Trendon Watford Signs Qualifying Offer

July 9th, 2024 at 11:08am CST by Luke Adams

Nets restricted free agent forward Trendon Watford has accepted his one-year qualifying offer, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

The move will lock in Watford’s $2,726,603 salary for the 2024/25 season, putting him on track to reach unrestricted free agency a year from now.

Watford, 23, spent his first two NBA season in Portland from 2021-23, but was waived by the Trail Blazers last summer before his 2023/24 salary could become guaranteed. He caught on with Brooklyn and appeared in a career-high 63 regular season games, averaging 6.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 13.6 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .527/.397/.794.

Because he only had three years of NBA experience under his belt, Watford remained eligible for restricted free agency this offseason, and the Nets took advantage by issuing him a qualifying offer ahead of the June 29 deadline. Signing that QO means that the former LSU standout will have the ability to veto any trade involving him during the 2024/25 league year.

With Watford back under contract, Brooklyn will be carrying 12 players on guaranteed deals, plus Mamadi Diakite and Jalen Wilson on partially guaranteed salaries.

With Watford off the board, Isaac Okoro is the only remaining restricted free agent who didn’t finish last season on a two-way contract.

QO Updates: Cavaliers, Pistons, Christie, Watford

June 29th, 2024 at 11:36am CST by Rory Maher

The Cavaliers have issued qualifying offers to young wings Isaac Okoro and Emoni Bates, which means they’re both heading for restricted free agency, sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link).

The fifth overall pick of the 2020 draft, Okoro’s QO — essentially just a one-year contract offer that gives the team the right of first refusal — is worth approximately $11.83MM. Bates’ QO, meanwhile, is for another two-way contract; he spent his 2023/24 rookie campaign on a two-way deal with Cleveland.

The Pistons announced in a press release (via Twitter) that they have extended a qualifying offer to forward Simone Fontecchio, making him a restricted free agent as well. Detroit is considered likely to retain the Italian sharpshooter, whose QO is worth about $5.2MM after he met the “starter criteria” in March.

However, the Pistons have decided not to tender QOs to former first-round picks James Wiseman and Malachi Flynn, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter links). Both Wiseman and Flynn will be heading for unrestricted free agency.

The second pick of the 2020 draft, Wiseman did not meet the starter criteria, so his QO would have been worth $7.7MM. Flynn’s QO was valued at $5.8MM.

The moves were expected, as clearing the cap holds for Wiseman and Flynn will allow Detroit to create a significant amount of cap room heading into the new league season. Teams can officially begin negotiating with external free agents on Sunday evening.

Here are a couple more players who are heading for restricted free agency:

Lakers guard Max Christie was given a $2.3MM qualifying offer, Scotto reports (via Twitter). The 21-year-old has averaged 3.8 points and 2.0 rebounds while shooting 37.8% from deep over his first two NBA seasons (108 games, 13.5 minutes per contest). Scotto hears Christie is expected to receive interest from rival suitors as a RFA.
Sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post that the Nets plan to give Trendon Watford a QO before Saturday’s deadline (Twitter link). A former undrafted free agent who played college ball at LSU, Watford’s one-year QO is worth just over $2.7MM. He averaged 6.9 points and 3.1 rebounds on .527/.397/.794 shooting in 63 games last season for Brooklyn (13.6 minutes).

New York Notes: Knicks, Robinson, Watford, Clowney

April 8th, 2024 at 10:07pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA fined the Knicks $25K on Monday for an injury reporting violation (Twitter link). According to the league, New York originally listed center Mitchell Robinson as out for the March 27 contest vs. Toronto, but he wound up playing 12 minutes in his first game back from a lengthy absence.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York-based teams:

Speaking of Robinson, who missed most of the season with a fractured left ankle that required surgery, he has been quite rusty since he returned a couple weeks ago, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. In addition to having poor conditioning and timing, the 26-year-old says he still isn’t 100% confident in his ankle. “Pushing off. Absorbing contact through it. Stuff like that,” the Knicks big man said. “’Cause obviously no one wants this to happen again. I damn sure don’t. … It’s something I’ve gotta get back used to again.”
In another story for The New York Post, Bondy examines the Knicks‘ complicated playoff possibilities with four regular season games remaining. New York, which is currently 46-32, the No. 4 seed in the East, can finish as high as No. 2, but theoretically could drop all the way down to No. 8, though the latter is very unlikely.
Third-year forward Trendon Watford will be a restricted free agent this summer if the Nets give him a qualifying offer. He hasn’t been a rotation regular for much of the 2023/24 season, but he’s been trying to take advantage of an expanded role as Brooklyn deals with multiple frontcourt injuries, per Bridget Reilly of The New York Post. Watford is averaging 13.1 PPG on .571/.474/.696 over the past eight games (23.5 MPG).
Nets rookie Noah Clowney got his first career start in Sunday’s loss to Sacramento and the young big man got thoroughly outplayed by Kings center Domantas Sabonis, observes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Clowney had seven points, 10 rebounds and was minus-26 in his 35 minutes, compared to 18 points, 20 rebounds, nine assists and plus-18 in 35 minutes for Sacramento’s star big man. “He’s just gotta be in it, you know? This is good for him,” interim coach Kevin Ollie said. “He’s gotta be in it and experience it, learn from it, just as long as you don’t quit in it, and he’s not gonna quit in it. These guys have been around — Sabonis is an All-Star — so hopefully he watches the tape and maybe gets something from Sabonis to bring it in his game, go lift some weights, all that stuff.” Clowney became just the fourth teenager in franchise history to start a game for the Nets, Lewis adds.

Atlantic Notes: Lowry, Embiid, Anunoby, Watford

April 2nd, 2024 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

Since joining the Sixers as a buyout-market signing, Kyle Lowry has started 15 of the 18 games he has played for his hometown team, averaging 8.7 points and 4.8 assists per night while knocking down 39.0% of his three-point attempts.

As Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes, Lowry’s role in Philadelphia is among the biggest any buyout player in recent history has taken on, but that’s perhaps not surprising given the history between the veteran point guard and the Sixers’ head coach. Lowry and Nick Nurse were together for years in Toronto, including for the team’s 2019 championship, and Nurse still trusts the six-time All-Star at age 38.

“He’s a good organizer,” Nurse said. “I think that he’s really helped our defense get better and better just by (understanding) a lot of the things that we want to do as a coaching staff. He kind of makes sure they get done out there on the floor. He’s been really good in that sense.”

For his part, Lowry has been ready and willing to accept a lesser role than the one he played under Nurse in Toronto.

“I’m not the go-to guy on this team. I’m the guy that is going to help the go-to guys get better, get open looks,” Lowry said. “If I need to be a go-to guy, I can. Whatever I’m needed (for), I will be able to do.”

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

Confirming reporting that Joel Embiid is very close to returning for the Sixers, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said during a SportsCenter appearance on Monday that Embiid’s knee has been “sound” during his ramp-up process and that he’s focused now on improving his conditioning (Twitter video link).
The Knicks have updated the designation for OG Anunoby‘s right elbow injury, referring to it as tendinopathy – also known as tennis elbow – after having previously listed him as out due to “injury management,” per Stefan Bondy and Michael Blinn of The New York Post. Shams Charania of The Athletic said during an appearance on FanDuel’s Run it Back show on Monday (Twitter video link) that Anunoby appears more likely than Julius Randle to return to action in the coming days or weeks.
After being in and out of the Nets‘ rotation for much of the season, forward Trendon Watford has been very productive off the bench for the past five games, averaging 15.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists with a .667/.500/.647 shooting line in 25.4 minutes per night, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The late-season surge may help convince Brooklyn to issue him a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent this offseason. “I just take advantage of the work I’ve been putting in in the dark,” Watford said. “And I felt like even early in the year when I felt like I should have been playing, even when I wasn’t, I was still just putting in the work, knowing opportunities were going to come.”

Atlantic Notes: Barrett, Sharpe, Giles, Watford, Morris

January 8th, 2024 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

RJ Barrett has provided the scoring punch the Raptors were seeking when they decided to trade for him last week, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet. Barrett had his best game since the deal Sunday night, posting 37 points in a lopsided win at Golden State.

“I’m just trying to help,” he said. “That’s all I’m trying to do, just trying to help. (Immanuel Quickley) and I, I think we’re adjusting great, but it’s a work in progress.”

Toronto is 3-1 with Barrett in the lineup, and he’s averaging 21.0 PPG while shooting 53.8% from the field and 52.6% from three-point range. Coach Darko Rajakovic noted that Barrett has been keeping the ball moving, handing out six assists on Sunday, and Barrett is enjoying the open shots he’s been getting in Toronto’s offense.

“Being here with the system we have, you get a lot of wide-open looks,” Barrett said. “We’re playing in a flow, in a rhythm, getting good shots that I work on every day … you know the ball is coming, you just have to be ready to shoot it.”

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Nets backup center Day’Ron Sharpe will undergo an MRI today after spraining his left knee late in Sunday’s game, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Sharpe had to be helped off the floor after a collision, and coach Jacque Vaughn said he won’t accompany the team on its flight to France for Thursday’s international game. “He’ll stay back, won’t travel with us to Paris right now,” Vaughn said. “We’ll see if he’s going to join us in Paris.”
Harry Giles and Trendon Watford were thrilled to remain with the Nets as they learned over the weekend their contracts will be guaranteed for the rest of the season, Lewis adds. “I’m officially official,” said Giles, who has battled injuries throughout his NBA career. “(General manager) Sean (Marks) texted me in the morning, told me, ‘Glad you’re a Net, you’re here to say, well deserved.’… When I came in this morning, I saw Sean again. He gave me a hug, told me congrats and I’m glad you’re here to stay.”
Marcus Morris talked to Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer about how much it means to him to be playing for his hometown Sixers and hearing “from North Philly” as part of his pregame introduction. “If you would have asked me this, in a million years, I would have said I didn’t think it was going to happen,” said Morris, who was acquired from the Clippers earlier this season. “… My boys being able to see it. My family being able to see it. It was big for me. Just grateful for the opportunity.”

Atlantic Notes: Batum, Morris, Barnes, Celtics’ Reserves, Nets

November 3rd, 2023 at 7:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

It’s a mixed bag in terms of the availability of the players the Sixers acquired in the James Harden deal, Gina Mizell of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.

Nicolas Batum remains away from the team for personal reasons and coach Nick Nurse is unsure when he’ll return, while Marcus Morris is still ramping up after being out of the Clippers’ rotation. However, Robert Covington and KJ Martin have a chance to be in the Sixers’ rotation for the team’s game against Phoenix on Saturday.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Coming off a disappointing second NBA season, Raptors forward Scottie Barnes appears to be making major strides, according to Eric Koreen of The Athletic. Barnes has been a steady force thus far while averaging 21.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists and shooting 52.6% from the field. While at times he’s tried to do too much, Barnes has also been a factor defensively, Koreen notes.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla organized a film session for his struggling bench on Tuesday and it paid off on Wednesday, as the backups lifted the team in a 155-point explosion against Indiana. The bench contributed 63 points. “I just thought we played with more of a sense of purpose, and they managed the game in that way,” Mazzulla said to The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach (subscription required). “And there’s certain things that you can do to put yourself in a better situation in those. It’s defend without fouling, it’s limiting them to one shot, it’s not giving up transition. Those are the three things that they didn’t do in the Washington game and those are the three things that they did a great job of taking away [against the Pacers].”
Speaking of reserves, the Nets got similar performances from their bench in a victory over Miami on Wednesday. That group included Armoni Brooks and Trendon Watford, making their first appearances with the Nets, and rookie second-rounder Jalen Wilson, Dan Martin of the New York Post notes. “This is a night when you see the depth and versatility of our group,’’ coach Jacque Vaughn said. “You also saw the fight and competitiveness of our group. Our pace didn’t change with subbing in guys.”

Nets Waive Darius Bazley

October 19th, 2023 at 2:00pm CST by Rory Maher

2:00pm: Bazley has been released, according to the Nets (Twitter link).

12:56pm: The Nets intend to waive big man Darius Bazley, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

A former first-round pick (23rd overall in 2019), Bazley signed a one-year deal with Brooklyn this summer as an unrestricted free agent after he didn’t receive a qualifying offer from Phoenix. However, his contract was non-guaranteed, and he was trying to make the Nets’ opening night roster.

With Bazley set to hit the waiver wire, it seems as though Harry Giles and Trendon Watford might have secured roster spots. The three players — all of whom are on non-guaranteed deals — appeared to be competing for the final two spots on the 15-man roster, with Brooklyn having 13 players on guaranteed standard contracts.

A 6’8″ forward/center, Bazley holds career averages of 9.1 PPG and 5.3 RPG on .411/.310/.673 shooting in 228 regular season games (118 starts, 23.6 MPG) with the Thunder and Suns. He averaged 5.7 PPG, 6.3 RPG and 1.0 SPG while shooting 42.9% from deep in three preseason contests with the Nets and is expected to draw interest as a free agent, according to Charania.

The Nets will have 19 players under contract once Bazley is officially released. They have one two-way slot open.

Atlantic Notes: Watford, Nets, Barnes, Holiday, White

October 18th, 2023 at 11:46am CST by Luke Adams

Nets forward Trendon Watford, who is battling for a regular season roster spot, strengthened his case on Monday by scoring 13 points and grabbing seven rebounds in 16 minutes vs. Philadelphia, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. As Lewis notes, Watford also hit a pair of three-pointers and even operated as a secondary play-maker.

“(Nets coach Jacque Vaughn) is always just encouraging me, telling me little things to get better at and little things he sees. In the time I’ve been here, he’s put the ball in my hands a lot. So he likes how I play-make and stuff,” Watford told Lewis. “So yeah, that’s really it; he just wants me to keep doing that and keep getting better defensively. And I think I’ve took a step forward in that.”

The Nets have 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, plus Watford, Darius Bazley, and Harry Giles on non-guaranteed deals, so those three players may be vying for two regular season roster spots. As Net Income of NetsDaily observes, with one two-way slot still open, there’s a path to keeping all three of those non-guaranteed players into the regular season — giving one of them a two-way contract.

However, while Watford and Giles are both eligible to sign a two-way deal, they can’t be converted directly since their contracts don’t include an Exhibit 10 clause. That means they’d have to pass through waivers and re-sign with Brooklyn in order to receive a two-way contract from the team.

Let’s round up a few more notes from around the Atlantic…

The Raptors made former Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes “off limits” in trade talks for Kevin Durant last year and Damian Lillard this offseason, league sources tell Zach Lowe of ESPN. Reports that linked Toronto to Durant and Lillard when they were available strongly indicated the team wasn’t willing to include Barnes in its offers.
A report earlier this month suggested that USA Basketball is aggressively pursuing Jrue Holiday for its 2024 Olympic roster. The Celtics guard said on Monday that he hasn’t heard directly from Team USA yet, but expressed interest in playing in Paris, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “Why not?” Holiday said. “I want to see what we can do out there.”
After starting 70 of the 82 games he played for the Celtics last season, Derrick White isn’t necessarily guaranteed a spot in the starting five following the acquisitions of Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. White said this week that he’s fine with starting or coming off the bench and will go with the flow, tweets Weiss.

Nets Notes: Simmons, Point Guards, Whitehead, Sharpe, More

September 26th, 2023 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Nets guard Ben Simmons is taking part in 5-on-5 workouts without any restrictions and is expected to be a full participant in training camp, head coach Jacque Vaughn and general manager Sean Marks said on Tuesday, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

“Pretty simple that way which is good for me to say, and I think that fits into an exciting time for me to have this group together,” Vaughn said. “No restrictions at the beginning of the year — get to form an identity together, get to form some relationships at the beginning of the year, a style of play, so really looking forward to the challenge and getting to training camp because of that.”

In addition to discussing Simmons’ health, Vaughn confirmed something the former No. 1 overall pick said last month, telling reporters that the relationship between the two men is in a better place now than it was last season. As Bontemps details, Vaughn also agreed with Simmons’ assessment that he’s a point guard, though the head coach did offer a caveat.

“I would use the word ‘agreement’ more so than ‘commitment,'” Vaughn said when he was asked if he’s committed to playing Simmons at the point this season. “The agreement is if he’s playing at a consistent and high level, then I think our pictures look exactly the same. I think you can kind of put it in that category.”

Asked if Simmons is competing with Spencer Dinwiddie for minutes at point guard, Vaughn said the two guards will share the floor at times, with Dennis Smith Jr. also in the mix for a regular backcourt role, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv.

Here’s more on the Nets:

There’s no specific timeline for the return of first-round pick Dariq Whitehead, who underwent foot surgery in the spring, but the Nets certainly don’t expect him to miss his entire rookie season, per Adam Zagoria of NJ.com. “We’re definitely not going to rush him,” Marks said. “We love the grit and determination. I wouldn’t put a timeline on when he’ll be back but he will definitely be playing this year.”
While Vaughn still expects to use smaller lineups frequently in 2023/24, he wants to give Day’Ron Sharpe an opportunity to earn a role since he’s one of the team’s best rebounders, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter links). The head coach also said that he expects Simmons and center Nic Claxton to share the floor quite a bit, despite the spacing issues it created last season.
For the first time since 2018, the Nets won’t have any superstar players on their roster entering training camp. That doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t be open to pursuing a star in the next year or two if the right opportunity arises, but it also doesn’t sound like they feel compelled to do so. “(Team owner) Joe Tsai, myself and (Vaughn) have talked openly about how this team will look in the upcoming years and when’s the right time to go back in,” Marks said, according to Bontemps. “Whether it’s facilitating another deal, whether it’s acquiring more players, whether it’s seeing what these young guys on our team right now can develop, and that’s an exciting piece too that we’re forgetting to mention. We’re certainly not in any hurry, but at the end of the day, we’re going to do our due diligence like we always have over the course of the last six years.”
Over at his Substack, Steve Lichtenstein explores why forward Trendon Watford has the potential to be a solid developmental piece for Brooklyn. Watford is on a non-guaranteed contract with the Nets.