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About Trendon Watford
• Trendon Watford is a natural scorer with good instincts whose mismatch potential stood out as he helped LSU to an NCAA Tournament berth as a sophomore. Widely regarded as a top-15 prospect in the high school class of 2019 following his senior year at Mountain Brook High School (AL), the Birmingham native capped his senior year with McDonald’s and Jordan Brand All-American honors. Making an instant impact for Head Coach Will Wade in the SEC, Watford scored 13.6 points per game as a true freshman. Stepping into a bigger role as a sophomore, the 20-year old forward averaged 16.3 points, 7.4 points, and 2.9 assists per game to earn All-SEC 2nd Team honors.
• Standing 6’9 with an improving 240-pound frame and good length, Watford has good size for a forward and is a solid athlete.
• Doing a little bit of everything as one of the Tigers’ three key offensive threats as a sophomore, Watford showed the ability to score opportunistically around the rim, exploited slower big man on the perimeter, took smaller forwards in the post, and ranked among the most prolific players in the country converting floaters in the paint. A versatile offensive player, Watford scored in bunches on several notable occasions, but still has room to grow as a jump shooter to round-out his skill set.
• Possessing some length and timing to make plays defensive, Watford held his own sometimes more than others in LSU’s switch-heavy system.
Advanced Stats
• One of the only players in recent history to generate no more than 16% of his possessions from any one of the 11 play types Synergy tracks, Watford truly did a little bit of everything for the Tigers as a sophomore. An aggressive, skilled scorer who can create his own shot, score from awkward angles, contribute with his instincts off the ball, and even find the open man pretty creatively when he wants to, he is very capable offensive weapon.
• Fitting nicely into an inside-outside role as the Tigers played a lot of small lineups, Watford, did much of his scoring around the rim. Averaging 1.25 points per shot around the rim in the half court [71st percentile], 0.92 points per post up possession [42nd percentile], and 0.97 points per floater [79th percentile], Watford did not just hunt shots in a variety of ways, but showed terrific touch and quite a bit of creativity inside of 15-feet as well.
• With a quarter of his shots in the half court coming on the perimeter, Watford averaged 87 points per jump shot in the half court [43rd percentile]. While he is capable of making an occasional catch and shoot jumper, he has room to tighten up his mechanics to force defenders to respect him away from the rim.
Defensive Analysis
• Possessing good length and instincts defensively, Watford had some positive moments contesting shots guarding on the ball and getting in the passing lanes, but has room to be more consistent—particularly off the ball.
• Holding his own one-on-one more consistently inside than on the perimeter, Watford was still learning how to give himself a cushion against quicker guards and finish plays as a sophomore.
— Profile by Synergy Sports
