Trendon Nelson Watford (born November 9, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the LSU Tigers.

High school career

Watford began his high school basketball playing career for

Shades Valley High School Shades Valley High School (SVHS) is a four-year public secondary school in the Birmingham, Alabama suburb of Irondale. The school was established in 1948 near Homewood and moved to its present location in 1996. SVHS is the largest of 14 high sch ...

in Irondale, Alabama while attending Irondale Middle School before moving to Mountain Brook, Alabama where he played high school basketball for Mountain Brook High School from his freshman year to senior year. A highly touted five star prospect, Watford holds many Alabama state records, among these is the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s career rebounding record. He led Mountain Brook to three consecutive Class 7A state championships from 2017 to 2019.

Recruiting

On May 20, 2019, he committed to

Will Wade Frank William Wade (born November 26, 1982) is an American college basketball coach. He has served as the head coach at three institutions: Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball, Chattanooga from 2013 to 2015, VCU Rams men's basketball, VCU from 20 ...

and LSU.

College career

In his debut for LSU, an 88–79 win over Bowling Green, Watford scored 10 points. He had his first double double in college on November 19, 2019, scoring 12 points and grabbing 12 rebounds as LSU defeated UMBC 77–50. Watford scored a career-high 22 points on January 25, 2020, in a 69–67 win over Texas. At the conclusion of the regular season, Watford was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. He averaged 13.6 points and 7.2 rebounds for LSU as a freshman. Following the season, Watford declared for the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

. On August 3, Watford announced he was returning to LSU for his sophomore season. He scored a career-high 30 points in a SEC Tournament championship game loss to Alabama. Watford averaged 16.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game as a sophomore. Following the season, he declared for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA us ...

and hired an agent, thus forgoing his college eligibility.

Professional career

Portland Trail Blazers (2021–2023)

After going undrafted in the

, Watford was signed by the Portland Trail Blazers to a two-way contract on August 3, 2021. His contract was converted to a standard deal on February 21, 2022. On March 12, he scored a season-high 27 points, along with six rebounds, in a 127–118 win over the Washington Wizards. On July 17, 2022, Watford put up 19 points, seven rebounds, two assists, three steals, and one block, to lead the Blazers to an 85–77 win over the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

in the

2022 NBA Summer League The 2022 NBA Summer League, also branded as the NBA 2K23 Summer League 2022, was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus ...

championship match. He was later named the Summer League Championship Game MVP. Watford was also named to the All-NBA Summer League Second Team. On June 30, 2023, Watford was waived by the Trail Blazers.

Brooklyn Nets (2023–present)

On August 3, 2023, Watford signed with the Brooklyn Nets.

Career statistics

NBA

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Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

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, 62 , , 12 , , 19.1 , , .560 , , .391 , , .720 , , 3.8 , , 2.1 , , .5 , , .2 , , 7.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 110 , , 22 , , 18.6 , , .547 , , .333 , , .737 , , 4.0 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , .4 , , 7.5

College

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LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

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Personal life

Watford is the younger brother of professional basketball player

Christian Watford Christian Ramon Watford (born April 28, 1991) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Indiana University. High school career Watford played high school basketball at Shades Valley High School in the ...

References

External links

LSU Tigers bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watford, Trendon 2000 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Birmingham, Alabama LSU Tigers men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Portland Trail Blazers players Power forwards (basketball) Undrafted National Basketball Association players