Brooklyn Nets forward Trendon Watford suffered a setback to a hamstring injury that has held him out for nearly a month. The team downgraded Watford from available to out before Friday's win over the Chicago Bulls after the 23-year-old experienced “awareness” in his hamstring during warmups.
Watford will remain sidelined for Sunday's home matchup with the Detroit Pistons.
“He had a certain workout schedule. Then he had some awareness that we had to address,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “And obviously, if there’s awareness in whatever part of his body, especially if it’s the one that we’re concerned with, then we decided not to dress him and look at the whole situation again.”
“It's just part of the process, he's in a good place, working [to get back],” Fernandez continued. “Obviously, we want to be cautious. As we always said, health is the number one thing, and we didn't feel like we wanted to put in that spot. And right now, we’ve addressed the situation… It's nothing major. He'll be back soon. I’m not going to tell you exactly when, but obviously, we'll communicate when we take those steps in the preparation.”
Watford is expected to step into an expanded role this season as Brooklyn enters year one of a rebuild.
Trendon Watford remains sidelined by hamstring injury for Nets
Watford signed a $2.7 million qualifying offer with the Nets this summer after playing 2023-24 on the minimum. After playing his first two NBA seasons as a small-ball five with the Portland Trail Blazers, he transitioned to a point-center role with Brooklyn. He saw success in limited playing time, averaging 6.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists on 52.7 percent shooting in 13.6 minutes per game last season.
The LSU product took advantage of an extended opportunity late in the year, averaging 12.9 points and 2.2 assists on 54 percent shooting over his final 11 appearances. He expanded his three-point range during that span, shooting 44.0 percent on 2.3 attempts per game. At 6-foot-8, Watford's ability to continue his three-point development this season will be crucial if he hopes to secure a long-term NBA role.
The Nets will host the Pistons and Memphis Grizzlies during a back-to-back on Sunday and Monday. If Watford cannot return for the Grizzlies matchup, his next opportunity to make his season debut will come when Brooklyn travels to face the Boston Celtics on Friday.
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