Welcome to our Sixers player preview series, where in the weeks leading up to Media Day we will preview the upcoming 2025-26 season for each and every member of the Sixers' standard roster. For each player, we will pose two key questions about their season before making a prediction.
The pressure is on after a miserable 24-58 campaign last season. After entering a year with championship aspirations and spending multiple months having to tank for the sake of a protected first-round pick, the Sixers have lost any and all benefit of the doubt that their signature season is finally coming.
It is safe to say there is a whole lot of work to do on the Sixers' end to prove the doubters wrong. Do they have a roster good enough to make it happen?
Up next: Trendon Watford, the team's lone external addition to its standard roster via free agency this summer. A close friend of Tyrese Maxey, the 6-foot-9, 240-pound Watford possesses unique ball-handling and passing skills at power forward, giving him an opportunity to fill a new role within Sixers head coach Nick Nurse's offense. How high is the ceiling for the 24-year-old forward signed to a two-year deal worth the veteran's minimum salary?
SIXERS PLAYER PREVIEWS
Jared McCain | Justin Edwards | VJ Edgecombe | Kyle Lowry | Kelly Oubre Jr. | Johni Broome | Adem Bona | Andre Drummond | Trendon Watford
Can Watford form a dynamic two-man game with his close friend?
Around this time last year, this question was being asked about another one of Maxey's close friends: KJ Martin. Martin and Maxey had grown close off the floor, and entering last season Maxey announced his intention to create a lethal two-man game with the athletic forward. He went as far as to say he wanted to create a similar dynamic that James Harden and P.J. Tucker had.
Now, it would be wise to expect that Maxey and Watford are eager to accentuate each other's strengths on the court. Watford joked over the summer that he has only ever gotten to play against his friend. Now they can see what it looks like when both players are in the same uniform. Watford's potential two-man game with Maxey will look different than Martin's did – Martin is a far superior athlete, but not nearly as good of a passer – but as they try to form a reliable combination, there can be some examples drawn from the brief success Maxey and Martin had together
Watford is a suspect three-point shooter (more on this later). If he plays himself into a critical role at power forward and Joel Embiid is available, Watford will often be the Sixers' worst shooter on the floor. Defenses will leave him open a lot. The same was true for Martin, who found ways to leverage that for the benefit of others:
While Martin utilized impressive short-roll passing chops and strong instincts during his time with the Sixers, Watford has a complete ball-handling repertoire. He is a true point forward who is going to initiate plenty of offense for the Sixers whenever he is on the floor.
Being able to weaponize Maxey – and Jared McCain, for that matter – as off-ball scoring threats will go a long way for the Sixers on the offensive end of the floor. Those players can fly around screens and wait for Watford to find them, or they can curl around Watford for dribble hand-off actions like this one:
Maxey will not be the lone beneficiary of Watford's unique skills, but he certainly figures to be the player Watford shares the floor with more than any other. The pairing has preexisting chemistry that could do it a whole lot of good.
MORE: Watford explains connection with Maxey, unique skills, more
What will Watford provide offensively when he does not have the ball?
Watford is clearly a gifted ball-handler at his size, and his full package of passing talents will provide value to this offense. But in order to really stick as a critical component of the rotation, he cannot be a liability away from the ball.
In general, Watford has made enough of his open three-point attempts to avoid that status. But he has not made enough of those shots for anyone to feel good about his accuracy, and in his four-year NBA career Watford's three-point volume has often been limited by his slow release:
At the peak of Martin's time with the Sixers, he had grown comfortable knocking down corner triples. It helped define his offensive role for many possessions within a game. Can Watford become similarly useful in that spot? He does not have tons of experience there in his career, but it should be the easiest region of the floor for him to find success spotting up:
For any role player on a team full of ball-dominant, high-usage players, the ability to make catch-and-shoot three-pointers is just going to be crucial no matter what. There is no doubt that Watford's significant ball skills give him greater margin for error as a three-point shooter, but in order to play important minutes in extremely competitive games he is going to have to prove capable of making defenses pay for ignoring him.
MORE: Trendon Watford full film study
Prediction
Watford does not profile as a long-term starter with the Sixers, but he plays well enough to establish himself as a helpful rotation piece. As a result, the Sixers pick up his $2.8 million team option for the 2026-27 season with zero hesitation.
Watford very well could get a healthy number of starts at the four in 2025-26, but that's much more of a reflection on the team's lack of a firm option at the position than Watford's own ability. And while the guess here is that Watford proves to be a keeper in Philadelphia thanks to his outstanding ball-handling and passing skill at his size, it is likely not wise to bank on Watford being the team's long-term solution at power forward.
To be clear: That is completely fine. If Watford ends up good enough to be at the back end of a rotation, the Sixers' commitment to him will have paid off in spades. Finding a player even occasionally viable of logging rotation minutes on a two-year minimum deal – Watford's deal also contains a team option for the second season, ensuring the Sixers will not lose him after one year like they did Guerschon Yabusele – is a massive win every single time.
Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey takes a whole lot of criticism these days; plenty of it is earned. But his track record of success with minimum signings since arriving in Philadelphia is outstanding, and given the makeup of their cap sheet the Sixers must continue hitting on players like they did with Yabusele at the bottom of the market in free agency. Will Watford be their latest diamond in the rough?
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