October 3, 2024 • 17 mins
Trendon Watford enters the upcoming season as one of the Nets most versatile players. Chris chats with Tim "Capper" Capstraw and NetsDaily's Lucas Caplan about how Watford's ability to handle the ball with his size could make him a key within Brooklyn's rotation.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hey, what's going on. It's Chris Carino and this is
a podcast we call the Voice of the Nets. I'm
joined by my longtime radio partner Tim Capstraw and NETS
Danley Lucas Kaplan. You can also see Lucas's stuff on
NETS Digital and YouTube and all their social media outlets
and the website. Looking forward to some of the stuff
he's got coming up here with the Nets and great
(00:31):
to have him here with me and the Capper as
we go through the holdovers, all the guys who played
a part of the NETS team last season and now
looking forward to the twenty four to twenty five season.
As we slowly start to create toward training camp and
the preseason and then the regular season getting underway. Front
officers have to get creative sometimes, and I think there's
(00:52):
so much attention paid to colleges and international scouting and
theft and when people hear the word scout, they automatically
think of the draft. But what's really important at the
NBA level is personnel scouting. You know your ability to
go out and find players that are in situations, maybe
(01:16):
with other teams sitting at the end of the bench,
but you know that given the right opportunity, you see
something in them and you can now bring them in
at a manageable contract and they can develop into something
that can help you down the road. And I think
there's no better example than that than Trendon Watford, a
(01:39):
guy who you know, they saw something. The Nets staff
saw something in him and saw on ability to sign him.
He had been playing with the Portland Trailblazers. In hindsight,
after he's playing, well, you talk to people from Portland,
they talk about how much Chauncey Billets loved Trendon Watford.
But maybe guys just find their nit and they get
(02:00):
an opportunity. And that has certainly happened with Trendon Watford,
not only in coming to the Nets originally, but I
think as the season went along, you know, you saw
him get more comfortable and find his role. And but
I do think it goes to when he first made
the team cap, when he first joined the team. I
(02:21):
think when Trendon Watford first came to the Nets last year,
it was well, here's another big you know, here's another
guy that can help him six ' eight. They need
some depth in the front line. But you saw in
the in the in the preseason, they were using him
as a primary ball handler. So you got a little
glimpse at to who Trendon Watford was early in the year.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Last year.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Yeah, that was you know, when you think what Trendon Watford,
you can't help but think about it.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
His versatility, you.
Speaker 5 (02:48):
Know, the ability to be you know, here's a backup,
backup point guard or a big portions of the season.
So he certainly had the capability of being able to
do that at any time. He looked, he looked comfortable
doing it. He wasn't just the guy that you know,
could handle the ball a little bit. He could initiate
offense from the back court. He could get it up
(03:08):
and get you started. It's one thing to get the
ball off the elbow and make him play. It's another
thing to you know, basically bring it up. Uh.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
And yet you know, I don't see him as a point guard,
but he's a guy that can do that and play
that pretty well. And you know, he's in versatility. Versatility. Offensively,
he showed that he can play different multiple positions. He's
what you always to call the the r p O right,
the run pass option.
Speaker 5 (03:34):
He was not he'd get it in a five out
and fake the handoff.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Almost to the point where you know it was on
a scouting report that this guy he'd handed it often
handed it off that often. Yeah, yeah, handed it to
other guys and he would take it in and make
finishing place. Confident guy, versatile multiple positions. I heard of
him when I talked to people out West scouts out there.
(03:57):
He's a really good, uh you know, short role guy.
He not only could pass, he played a lot of
four and he's got this little half little Papa shot
thing that goes in.
Speaker 5 (04:07):
He didn't really show that. He showed almost everything but that.
And then you think about him on the defense. Great
versatility there. Also, he's out able to switch out, play
multiple positions and on top of all everything we just
talked about was close to forty percent from three. This
guy's gone. Is an interesting guy. And he's only twenty
(04:28):
three years old.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Good guy.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
That's another thing. He's young and former teammate of Cam
Johnson at LSU. Brother brother was a great player at Indiana.
So he comes from a basketball background. It's in his blood,
it's in his family. And you know that the floater
was money. I mean, his ability to get that shot
(04:51):
is what he wants. And ye know, we talked about
it in the Shooter episode where Dennis Shooter is a
point guard who is at a disadvantage because of his size.
Here's a guy if Trendon Watford can develop into eight
you know he is, he does play point guard when
he's out there sometimes, like if he can develop in
(05:12):
of that, he's his size can be a real weapon
for him, Lucas. I mean, he's you know, his ability
to maybe show some of those other things. The size
on both ends of the floor comes in handy for
him absolutely.
Speaker 6 (05:25):
I mean, one thing I like about him is that
his older brother, Christian Watford likes without fail, every one
of my tweets about a friend of mine pretty much
and the other and Trendon is almost forty percent from
three last year, and it's like you want him to
(05:46):
take more, you know, if you're using him as a
starting or not a starting, but if you're using him
as like a ball handler, it's like, hey, you got
to shoot the three, and you're shooting it well enough
where we don't want you to hesitate from there. He's
clearly like specially talented in a way, in a way
that a lot of end of bench guys are not
(06:07):
as in, you know, towards the end of the bench
on Portland six eight, guy that can shoot, can hit,
get to the floater, can kind of wiggle his way
into the paint, you know, for trend and I want
to see him lean into that passing ability more even
to not you know, rely on the floater because he
has these highlight passes that are you know, even more
(06:30):
impressive for a guy his size, but sometimes can veer
away from that. You know, you want him to lean
into his strengths more. It's like, dude, you could be
a guy, a jumbo sized guard who shoots really well
from three and makes a lot of passes. So for him,
it's about getting a minute leaning into his strengths and you.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Know, cutting out. I don't want to say the.
Speaker 6 (06:52):
Fat on his game, but limiting turnovers, limiting fouls and
those things are going to keep you off the court.
So he is a very a lot of end of
bench guys or you know, deep rotation guys, you kind
of know where you're gonna get.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
It might not be much. Trenton is the opposite.
Speaker 6 (07:08):
He has real high level skills, but he also has
these things that hold him back. So that is you know,
if you're talking about guys you look forward to watching
and analyzing. That's the perfect recipe right there.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yeah, I think that's a that's a great point because
sometimes you know, sometimes guys you they do certain things
on the floor, so it's gonna lead to turnovers or
you you live with some stuff that because you don't
want to take away their creativity, you don't want to
take away their aggressiveness. But I think sometimes with Trendon
(07:47):
Watford it was it wasn't so much of of mistakes
of aggression or trying to make a play. It just
would be lack of concentration, slopping it. And you're right,
that's something that's easy to you know, life lesson. Those
are the kind of things that are easy to clean up.
So do it.
Speaker 6 (08:08):
You know, you don't want to look up in the
second quarter and it's or like you know, four minutes
after he checks in and he's pretty much checking in
with two turnovers because you're probably going to get one
or two real turnovers right where there are mistakes of aggression,
but all of a sudden you have three or four
turnovers and you know half of them are kind of
(08:29):
easily correctable trending. I mean, this is why you sign
a young guy, and this is why you give him
more opportunity. So it's not any sort of personal fault,
but you definitely just want him to keep doing the
things he's good at. And then all of a sudden,
you have a really unique player, that versatile, big long
(08:50):
can be used in any number of ways. You know,
he can come off a screen, or he can set
a screen and roll. And these are the types of
guys that if the coaches can trust them, then the
coaches will love using them in a variety of ways.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
I'm sure Caver can speak to that.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
You know, well, I'll tell you, And I'm glad you
brought up the turnovers because I don't think anything gets
coaches more riled up than that, you know, turning the.
Speaker 5 (09:15):
Basketball over that that of that'll mak it crazy. You's
got to clean that up.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
And very point you're gonna.
Speaker 5 (09:22):
Play defense without following.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
I think, yeah, the.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Young team and nets will help themselves significantly with their
ability to play the game and not you know, and
you know, not being able to play defense with your feet,
not play hard, play aggressive, be physical, but don't don't
put the other team on the in the bonus to
early that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Can Trenton Watford be your you're like a starting primary
ball handler or do you think he needs he's going
to be that uh niche kind of player coming off
the bench.
Speaker 6 (10:02):
I think he can find a happy medium, you know.
I don't think it has to be one or the other. Like,
for example, if he's playing next to Cam Thomas, you know,
LSU teammate, there are possessions he can operate and run,
and then there are possessions when he can set a
screen and play off the ball. You know, ideally with
Trenton Watford, you find this happy medium where you're maintaining aggression.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
But you don't need to be the guy to do it.
Speaker 6 (10:29):
So I think he may have those primary skills, he
may have some off ball skills, but you don't want
to pigeonhole him. At the same time, it's on him
not to get pigeonholed with all of the things we're
talking about, you know, and again, minutes you find the balance,
you find where you can attack, you find a matchup
you like. You get used to making those not just
(10:53):
split second decisions, but decision making from a larger perspective like, oh,
when I come into.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
The game, want to get this done.
Speaker 6 (11:01):
When I'm playing next to this guy, I want to.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Get this done.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
And that that is a feel thing sort of at
the you know, at the general level.
Speaker 5 (11:11):
You know, we're talking about him like and he's we
should be you know, like, you know, he didn't count
on necessarily being a backup point guard. That's not why
he was necessarily. Let's not forget that he could be
a very good wing three four you know, in play
play just on the wing. He just have skills just play.
(11:31):
We talk about that. What do we always say about
wing players?
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Can they defend?
Speaker 5 (11:35):
I think he's an average defender, a good strong and
can you shoot? He can do both of those things.
Let's not forget that.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
We're talking about all the things that were the bonus
things that got him on the floor, but let's not
forget that he could you know, also be just just
maybe a.
Speaker 5 (11:52):
Really good wing player at the NBA.
Speaker 6 (11:55):
Yeah, this is this is the guy we're all talking about,
maybe folks on what he could do better, But it's
all coming from a place I think we can agree with,
like we want more from this guy because we see
that he has it and you know, just to kind
of not end, but you know, for a positive note
in here, it's because he has it, and because he
clearly has this talent.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
That's why you want more from him.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
But we wouldn't be talking about him like this if
we didn't think there was a legit future for him
to be a positive NBA player. I mean, I think
that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Yeah, and you mentioned his he can be that kind
of wing guy or you can put him in. He's
one of those guys that you don't want to say
we don't know what position he is because so many
times we see guys that people they'll bounce around a
couple of teams and or they won't get drafted, and
(12:49):
they go, we don't really know what position he is. Well,
look at all the things he can do and don't
worry about pigeonholing him into a position. The thing that
makes him so valuable though, and you know, because there's
a lot of guys that are six eight, six nine
that can that can shoot and defend pretty good and
and play the wing. But what's going to separate you
(13:12):
and I think what separates him is that ability to
be a primary ball him and to be a passer
and to be you know, have that that floater game,
and like, those are the things that now you become
a guy that now we're a matchup nightmare on the
floor when he's there, because you know, and and you
pointed out earlier too about you know Caper talking about
(13:36):
in Portland where he had that ability to play kind
of around the rim. If if you're trying to match
up with a smaller point guard with him, he could
have that ability to maybe take him down on the block,
uh and use that half hook, you know, you know,
so he'd become That's the thing, like, if he can
play that position, that might be the thing that separates
(13:57):
him as a player as a post to just another
six ' eight, six ' nine guy that can shoot
and defend. Is he good enough to be an NBA
you know level guy at that level, that's a question.
But when you throw in his ability to handle the ball,
the floater game be a matchup nightmare. That's the thing
(14:18):
that I think makes Trendon Watford the intriguing player that.
Speaker 6 (14:21):
He is, and it has a sort of compounding effect
where then you can play him in different lineup configurations,
which makes everybody else better. Okay, we have a couple
non shooters, or we have a couple big guys.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
Let's slide him over.
Speaker 6 (14:36):
To the one, you know, and now we're a big
team and we can get on the glass. Okay, we
have these guards we really want to play. They can shoot. Okay,
we can sline them kind of down here, match them
up with the forward. He can set some screens. And
so you stack those guys on a team, you know,
no matter who he's playing for, and it adds value
(14:56):
beyond just the literal things he can do on a
basketball court. You know, it makes his teammates better just
by existing. And so this is I think the thing,
This is why we don't want to pigeon all it.
You know, that's a big part of his appeal.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Well, Lucas Kaplan, Hopefully Christian Watford, his brother, will continue
to like your tweets or your hosts on X. He
was He's the typical example. Trendon was of the the
guy that you would go to see him and my
son used to play, you know, wreck ball or whatever,
(15:30):
and you'd always have like the younger brother, the little
kid on the sideline when there was a time out
would run onto the floor and hoist up some jumpers,
you know, and you and just always be around on
those travel teams and you'd say, well, that kid may
end up being better than all of them. And he
was the guy that used to go with his parents
on those long rides up from Birmingham, Alabama, up to
(15:54):
up to Indiana to go see his brother. There's picture
of Trending with the red and white stripe pants that
the Indiana Hoosier players used to wear. Tom Creane used
to love having him around his brother, you know, try
to give it a go in the NBA. It didn't
really work out for Christian, but certainly Trending was the
(16:17):
kid who was always hanging on. But now he has
a real opportunity, I think this year to show what
he can be with a team that is just you know,
looking for players who can step up for the Nets
this season and what will be a real wild card,
a real wild card for the Nets in a wild
card of a season. I think Trendon Watford, we appreciate
(16:41):
you tuning in here. The voice of the Nets, my
longtime radio partner Tim Capstraw. The Capper and of Nets
Daily and Nets Digital is Lucas Kaplan I'm Chris Carino.
Thank you so much for checking us out on the
Voice of the Nets.
Hey, what's going on. It's Chris Carino and this is
a podcast we call the Voice of the Nets. I'm
joined by my longtime radio partner Tim Capstraw and NETS
Danley Lucas Kaplan. You can also see Lucas's stuff on
NETS Digital and YouTube and all their social media outlets
and the website. Looking forward to some of the stuff
he's got coming up here with the Nets and great
(00:31):
to have him here with me and the Capper as
we go through the holdovers, all the guys who played
a part of the NETS team last season and now
looking forward to the twenty four to twenty five season.
As we slowly start to create toward training camp and
the preseason and then the regular season getting underway. Front
officers have to get creative sometimes, and I think there's
(00:52):
so much attention paid to colleges and international scouting and
theft and when people hear the word scout, they automatically
think of the draft. But what's really important at the
NBA level is personnel scouting. You know your ability to
go out and find players that are in situations, maybe
(01:16):
with other teams sitting at the end of the bench,
but you know that given the right opportunity, you see
something in them and you can now bring them in
at a manageable contract and they can develop into something
that can help you down the road. And I think
there's no better example than that than Trendon Watford, a
(01:39):
guy who you know, they saw something. The Nets staff
saw something in him and saw on ability to sign him.
He had been playing with the Portland Trailblazers. In hindsight,
after he's playing, well, you talk to people from Portland,
they talk about how much Chauncey Billets loved Trendon Watford.
But maybe guys just find their nit and they get
(02:00):
an opportunity. And that has certainly happened with Trendon Watford,
not only in coming to the Nets originally, but I
think as the season went along, you know, you saw
him get more comfortable and find his role. And but
I do think it goes to when he first made
the team cap, when he first joined the team. I
(02:21):
think when Trendon Watford first came to the Nets last year,
it was well, here's another big you know, here's another
guy that can help him six ' eight. They need
some depth in the front line. But you saw in
the in the in the preseason, they were using him
as a primary ball handler. So you got a little
glimpse at to who Trendon Watford was early in the year.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Last year.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Yeah, that was you know, when you think what Trendon Watford,
you can't help but think about it.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
His versatility, you.
Speaker 5 (02:48):
Know, the ability to be you know, here's a backup,
backup point guard or a big portions of the season.
So he certainly had the capability of being able to
do that at any time. He looked, he looked comfortable
doing it. He wasn't just the guy that you know,
could handle the ball a little bit. He could initiate
offense from the back court. He could get it up
(03:08):
and get you started. It's one thing to get the
ball off the elbow and make him play. It's another
thing to you know, basically bring it up. Uh.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
And yet you know, I don't see him as a point guard,
but he's a guy that can do that and play
that pretty well. And you know, he's in versatility. Versatility. Offensively,
he showed that he can play different multiple positions. He's
what you always to call the the r p O right,
the run pass option.
Speaker 5 (03:34):
He was not he'd get it in a five out
and fake the handoff.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Almost to the point where you know it was on
a scouting report that this guy he'd handed it often
handed it off that often. Yeah, yeah, handed it to
other guys and he would take it in and make
finishing place. Confident guy, versatile multiple positions. I heard of
him when I talked to people out West scouts out there.
(03:57):
He's a really good, uh you know, short role guy.
He not only could pass, he played a lot of
four and he's got this little half little Papa shot
thing that goes in.
Speaker 5 (04:07):
He didn't really show that. He showed almost everything but that.
And then you think about him on the defense. Great
versatility there. Also, he's out able to switch out, play
multiple positions and on top of all everything we just
talked about was close to forty percent from three. This
guy's gone. Is an interesting guy. And he's only twenty
(04:28):
three years old.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Good guy.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
That's another thing. He's young and former teammate of Cam
Johnson at LSU. Brother brother was a great player at Indiana.
So he comes from a basketball background. It's in his blood,
it's in his family. And you know that the floater
was money. I mean, his ability to get that shot
(04:51):
is what he wants. And ye know, we talked about
it in the Shooter episode where Dennis Shooter is a
point guard who is at a disadvantage because of his size.
Here's a guy if Trendon Watford can develop into eight
you know he is, he does play point guard when
he's out there sometimes, like if he can develop in
(05:12):
of that, he's his size can be a real weapon
for him, Lucas. I mean, he's you know, his ability
to maybe show some of those other things. The size
on both ends of the floor comes in handy for
him absolutely.
Speaker 6 (05:25):
I mean, one thing I like about him is that
his older brother, Christian Watford likes without fail, every one
of my tweets about a friend of mine pretty much
and the other and Trendon is almost forty percent from
three last year, and it's like you want him to
(05:46):
take more, you know, if you're using him as a
starting or not a starting, but if you're using him
as like a ball handler, it's like, hey, you got
to shoot the three, and you're shooting it well enough
where we don't want you to hesitate from there. He's
clearly like specially talented in a way, in a way
that a lot of end of bench guys are not
(06:07):
as in, you know, towards the end of the bench
on Portland six eight, guy that can shoot, can hit,
get to the floater, can kind of wiggle his way
into the paint, you know, for trend and I want
to see him lean into that passing ability more even
to not you know, rely on the floater because he
has these highlight passes that are you know, even more
(06:30):
impressive for a guy his size, but sometimes can veer
away from that. You know, you want him to lean
into his strengths more. It's like, dude, you could be
a guy, a jumbo sized guard who shoots really well
from three and makes a lot of passes. So for him,
it's about getting a minute leaning into his strengths and you.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Know, cutting out. I don't want to say the.
Speaker 6 (06:52):
Fat on his game, but limiting turnovers, limiting fouls and
those things are going to keep you off the court.
So he is a very a lot of end of
bench guys or you know, deep rotation guys, you kind
of know where you're gonna get.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
It might not be much. Trenton is the opposite.
Speaker 6 (07:08):
He has real high level skills, but he also has
these things that hold him back. So that is you know,
if you're talking about guys you look forward to watching
and analyzing. That's the perfect recipe right there.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Yeah, I think that's a that's a great point because
sometimes you know, sometimes guys you they do certain things
on the floor, so it's gonna lead to turnovers or
you you live with some stuff that because you don't
want to take away their creativity, you don't want to
take away their aggressiveness. But I think sometimes with Trendon
(07:47):
Watford it was it wasn't so much of of mistakes
of aggression or trying to make a play. It just
would be lack of concentration, slopping it. And you're right,
that's something that's easy to you know, life lesson. Those
are the kind of things that are easy to clean up.
So do it.
Speaker 6 (08:08):
You know, you don't want to look up in the
second quarter and it's or like you know, four minutes
after he checks in and he's pretty much checking in
with two turnovers because you're probably going to get one
or two real turnovers right where there are mistakes of aggression,
but all of a sudden you have three or four
turnovers and you know half of them are kind of
(08:29):
easily correctable trending. I mean, this is why you sign
a young guy, and this is why you give him
more opportunity. So it's not any sort of personal fault,
but you definitely just want him to keep doing the
things he's good at. And then all of a sudden,
you have a really unique player, that versatile, big long
(08:50):
can be used in any number of ways. You know,
he can come off a screen, or he can set
a screen and roll. And these are the types of
guys that if the coaches can trust them, then the
coaches will love using them in a variety of ways.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
I'm sure Caver can speak to that.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
You know, well, I'll tell you, And I'm glad you
brought up the turnovers because I don't think anything gets
coaches more riled up than that, you know, turning the.
Speaker 5 (09:15):
Basketball over that that of that'll mak it crazy. You's
got to clean that up.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
And very point you're gonna.
Speaker 5 (09:22):
Play defense without following.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
I think, yeah, the.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Young team and nets will help themselves significantly with their
ability to play the game and not you know, and
you know, not being able to play defense with your feet,
not play hard, play aggressive, be physical, but don't don't
put the other team on the in the bonus to
early that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Can Trenton Watford be your you're like a starting primary
ball handler or do you think he needs he's going
to be that uh niche kind of player coming off
the bench.
Speaker 6 (10:02):
I think he can find a happy medium, you know.
I don't think it has to be one or the other. Like,
for example, if he's playing next to Cam Thomas, you know,
LSU teammate, there are possessions he can operate and run,
and then there are possessions when he can set a
screen and play off the ball. You know, ideally with
Trenton Watford, you find this happy medium where you're maintaining aggression.
Speaker 4 (10:25):
But you don't need to be the guy to do it.
Speaker 6 (10:29):
So I think he may have those primary skills, he
may have some off ball skills, but you don't want
to pigeonhole him. At the same time, it's on him
not to get pigeonholed with all of the things we're
talking about, you know, and again, minutes you find the balance,
you find where you can attack, you find a matchup
you like. You get used to making those not just
(10:53):
split second decisions, but decision making from a larger perspective like, oh,
when I come into.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
The game, want to get this done.
Speaker 6 (11:01):
When I'm playing next to this guy, I want to.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Get this done.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
And that that is a feel thing sort of at
the you know, at the general level.
Speaker 5 (11:11):
You know, we're talking about him like and he's we
should be you know, like, you know, he didn't count
on necessarily being a backup point guard. That's not why
he was necessarily. Let's not forget that he could be
a very good wing three four you know, in play
play just on the wing. He just have skills just play.
(11:31):
We talk about that. What do we always say about
wing players?
Speaker 4 (11:34):
Can they defend?
Speaker 5 (11:35):
I think he's an average defender, a good strong and
can you shoot? He can do both of those things.
Let's not forget that.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
We're talking about all the things that were the bonus
things that got him on the floor, but let's not
forget that he could you know, also be just just
maybe a.
Speaker 5 (11:52):
Really good wing player at the NBA.
Speaker 6 (11:55):
Yeah, this is this is the guy we're all talking about,
maybe folks on what he could do better, But it's
all coming from a place I think we can agree with,
like we want more from this guy because we see
that he has it and you know, just to kind
of not end, but you know, for a positive note
in here, it's because he has it, and because he
clearly has this talent.
Speaker 4 (12:15):
That's why you want more from him.
Speaker 6 (12:17):
But we wouldn't be talking about him like this if
we didn't think there was a legit future for him
to be a positive NBA player. I mean, I think
that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Yeah, and you mentioned his he can be that kind
of wing guy or you can put him in. He's
one of those guys that you don't want to say
we don't know what position he is because so many
times we see guys that people they'll bounce around a
couple of teams and or they won't get drafted, and
(12:49):
they go, we don't really know what position he is. Well,
look at all the things he can do and don't
worry about pigeonholing him into a position. The thing that
makes him so valuable though, and you know, because there's
a lot of guys that are six eight, six nine
that can that can shoot and defend pretty good and
and play the wing. But what's going to separate you
(13:12):
and I think what separates him is that ability to
be a primary ball him and to be a passer
and to be you know, have that that floater game,
and like, those are the things that now you become
a guy that now we're a matchup nightmare on the
floor when he's there, because you know, and and you
pointed out earlier too about you know Caper talking about
(13:36):
in Portland where he had that ability to play kind
of around the rim. If if you're trying to match
up with a smaller point guard with him, he could
have that ability to maybe take him down on the block,
uh and use that half hook, you know, you know,
so he'd become That's the thing, like, if he can
play that position, that might be the thing that separates
(13:57):
him as a player as a post to just another
six ' eight, six ' nine guy that can shoot
and defend. Is he good enough to be an NBA
you know level guy at that level, that's a question.
But when you throw in his ability to handle the ball,
the floater game be a matchup nightmare. That's the thing
(14:18):
that I think makes Trendon Watford the intriguing player that.
Speaker 6 (14:21):
He is, and it has a sort of compounding effect
where then you can play him in different lineup configurations,
which makes everybody else better. Okay, we have a couple
non shooters, or we have a couple big guys.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
Let's slide him over.
Speaker 6 (14:36):
To the one, you know, and now we're a big
team and we can get on the glass. Okay, we
have these guards we really want to play. They can shoot. Okay,
we can sline them kind of down here, match them
up with the forward. He can set some screens. And
so you stack those guys on a team, you know,
no matter who he's playing for, and it adds value
(14:56):
beyond just the literal things he can do on a
basketball court. You know, it makes his teammates better just
by existing. And so this is I think the thing,
This is why we don't want to pigeon all it.
You know, that's a big part of his appeal.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Well, Lucas Kaplan, Hopefully Christian Watford, his brother, will continue
to like your tweets or your hosts on X. He
was He's the typical example. Trendon was of the the
guy that you would go to see him and my
son used to play, you know, wreck ball or whatever,
(15:30):
and you'd always have like the younger brother, the little
kid on the sideline when there was a time out
would run onto the floor and hoist up some jumpers,
you know, and you and just always be around on
those travel teams and you'd say, well, that kid may
end up being better than all of them. And he
was the guy that used to go with his parents
on those long rides up from Birmingham, Alabama, up to
(15:54):
up to Indiana to go see his brother. There's picture
of Trending with the red and white stripe pants that
the Indiana Hoosier players used to wear. Tom Creane used
to love having him around his brother, you know, try
to give it a go in the NBA. It didn't
really work out for Christian, but certainly Trending was the
(16:17):
kid who was always hanging on. But now he has
a real opportunity, I think this year to show what
he can be with a team that is just you know,
looking for players who can step up for the Nets
this season and what will be a real wild card,
a real wild card for the Nets in a wild
card of a season. I think Trendon Watford, we appreciate
(16:41):
you tuning in here. The voice of the Nets, my
longtime radio partner Tim Capstraw. The Capper and of Nets
Daily and Nets Digital is Lucas Kaplan I'm Chris Carino.
Thank you so much for checking us out on the
Voice of the Nets.
Host
Chris Carrino
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