Trendon Watford excited to join Sixers, and play with longtime friend Tyrese Maxey: ‘We’re still in shock’

Just after NBA free agency opened Monday night, Trendon Watford received a phone call from Nick Nurse.

Then, a call from Tyrese Maxey.

The recruiting pitch to the versatile forward came from the 76ers’ coach, who said he was a fan of Watford’s game, and the star point guard, who has been one of Watford’s best friends since they were teenagers.

Watford was sold by the end of the night on joining the Sixers, and on Wednesday night officially signed his veteran minimum contract.

“It just worked out perfect,” Watford said Thursday at the Sixers’ practice facility. “… I’m just looking forward to just playing with great players, man. This is a great opportunity for me.”

Watford positionally replaces Guerschon Yabusele, who on Tuesday agreed to sign with the New York Knicks. Yet their playing styles are different.

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Watford, at 6-foot-8 and 235 pounds, came into the NBA as a small-ball center. He went undrafted in 2021 before signing a two-way contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. Watford, 24, eventually evolved into a point forward, and even the backup point guard, with the Brooklyn Nets, where he has played the last two seasons after two in Portland.

He just completed his most productive NBA season, averaging 10.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 21 minutes in 44 games for Brooklyn.

“It was just that confidence coming from the year before,” Watford said. “I knew with a new coach [Jordi Fernandez] that I had, I was going to be able to use my versatility and be able to show everything that I could do.”

Watford said he has possessed those passing skills and basketball IQ since he was a kid. Even while growing up “bigger than everybody” in the Birmingham, Ala., area, he said his father would not let him play in the post and instead focused on his perimeter skills. Watford became Alabama’s two-time Mr. Basketball and also frequently played with the ball in his hands during his two seasons at LSU.

“I guess he knew the bigger picture,” Watford said of his father, “with me growing and me being able to use my ballhandling to get downhill and just playmake for myself and others.”

In the NBA, Watford already has experience playing with an effective scoring guard, Damian Lillard in Portland. He now is eager to play with a dominant big man in Joel Embiid, whose health remains a wild card after he missed most of last season with an ongoing knee issue.

Should the Sixers return to full strength in 2025-26, Watford expects that those stars drawing double-teams will lead to a slew of open shots. (His career three-point percentage is 34.9%.)

He believes he occasionally can spell Maxey and fellow guard Jared McCain by initiating the offense, allowing them to play some possessions off the ball. Watford also is not afraid to unleash a feisty style — which he credits to his brother, Christian, who is 10 years older and played collegiately for Indiana and professionally overseas and in the G League — that he believes will endear himself to Sixers fans.

“I think we’re going to get along well,” Watford said. “And I look forward to bringing what I bring to the city.”

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Maxey was on the receiving end of some Watford trash talk when the Nets beat the Sixers twice last season. Their friendship dates to when they met at a high school camp, where their personalities quickly meshed, partially because their birthdays are one day apart, Watford said. They were roommates at the 2019 McDonald’s All American game. And since then, they have leaned on each other while navigating their NBA journeys.

Maxey called Watford again Thursday morning, just before the newest Sixer headed to the practice facility for the first time.

“We can’t believe it, honestly,” Watford said. “We’re still in shock.”