Trendon Watford saw limited minutes to begin the season with the Portland Trail Blazers but the undrafted forward from LSU has played a key role as of late for Chauncey Billups.
Now, Watford is trying to make the most of that newfound opportunity.
Watford, who was converted to a standard contract in February, entered the rotation on Jan. 3 and has since played every game. He is averaging 7.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 31 games in that span, and is currently in the midst of his best stretch of the season.
The 21-year-old has scored in double figures in five straight games, including back-to-back 20-point performances. Watford produced a career-high 27 points on Saturday in a win over the Washington Wizards, and earned praise from Billups afterward.
I thought Trendon was incredible the entire night. I thought he was good defensively, too. He had his hands full with (Kyle) Kuzma. I was really looking to see how he would compete against Kuz and I thought he was really good. He was solid the entire time.
Since the trade deadline, the Trail Blazers have reset the roster a bit and have prioritized minutes for their younger players. Cornerstones Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons are injured, so guys like Watford, Brandon Williams, Greg Brown III and Keon Johnson have all seen increased time.
Watford and the rest of the younger players view the rest of the season as a tremendous chance to carve out a place on the team moving forward and improve as a whole.
“Just getting this opportunity, we’re just trying to take advantage of it with all of the guys out,” Watford said. “We got a lot of young guys and we gotta step up. At the end of the day, we’re professionals, guys out there, they’re not going to care how old we are so we just gotta be out there and man up.”
With the Trail Blazers looking ahead a bit, Watford is beginning to showcase why he deserves a place on the team moving forward. Billups has certainly noticed his recent play.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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