The New Orleans Pelicans obviously had to wait till I went on a summer vacation to make a move, but here we are. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, free agent forward Trendon Watford has agreed to a one-year, $2.9 million deal with the Pelicans.
Watford grew up a few hours from New Orleans in Birmingham, Alabama, and attended LSU from 2019-21 before going undrafted in 2021. He got his start in the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers, spent some time with the Brooklyn Nets, and played for the Philadelphia 76ers last season. Watford has always been a fringe NBA guy but is still just 25 years old and showed solid potential with the 76ers in 2025-26.
Last season, Watford averaged 6.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in just under 17 minutes per game. He appeared in 53 games, with his most notable performance coming against the Toronto Raptors in November, posting a 20-point, 17-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in a 130-120 win.
Although shooting felt like this team's biggest need and Watford doesn't exactly fit that mold adding another forward who provides frontcourt versatility and has a well-rounded game isn’t the worst thing.
Trendon Watford rounds out the Pelicnas roster
Watford is the perfect type of insurance for this Pelicans team. Because he’s 6-foot-8, scores well on the inside, is a solid rebounder, and can be a connective passer, he provides an inexperienced frontcourt of Karlo Matkovic and Yves Missi more stability. If Jamahl Mosley, at any point, wants a different look at the five, he now has it in Watford. Unlike Missi and Matkovic, Watford isn’t a jump-out-of-the-gym level athlete, but there’s an argument to be had that, from a raw basketball skills standpoint, he is way more polished than either of the Pelicans year three bigs.
It’s not a perfect comparison, but Watford does share similar characteristics to Mosley’s starting center from his time with the Magic, Wendell Carter Jr. We’ve seen in the past, particularly the 2026 playoffs, how Mosley’s offensive systems thrive with bigs that crash the glass hard, do the dirty work and rely on skills over athleticism. Watford isn’t the shooter that Carter Jr. is shooting 32.5 percent three-point shooter for his career, they have similar tools and both play with a bit of nastiness in their game. Defensively, Watford is decent and agile enough to switch around and guard a couple of different positions, which will help earn trust with coach Mosley early on.
On top of being another frontcourt option, Watford also can play minutes if needed on the wing. With all three of the Pelicans' important wings in Saddiq Bey, Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones all having battles with injuries over the last several years, adding another player who can play minutes on the wing is a massive win.
This move also rounds out the Pelicans roster at 15 players, meaning that Christian Koloko, Kobe Bufkin and Caleb Houstan are all likely competing for New Orleans' final two-way spot at training camp.
Obviously, anytime you sign someone in the middle of August, it’s not going to be a league-changing move or something that leaves fans blown away. However, it can help the team on the margins, and that's exactly what I expect Watford to do.
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