The Philadelphia 76ers received a lot of acclaim among fans and pundits alike when they quickly acted in free agency and signed Trendon Watford to a bargain deal. A solid two-way forward in his own right, he looked like the exact kind of player the team was looking for to shore up their frontcourt. And to be fair, that has indeed been a precise descriptor of what he has provided for the group.
However, the 25-year-old has often been relegated to garbage time duty when the 76ers are relatively healthy, and it is actually easy to see why. Somehow, the fact that he has become a complete non-factor from three-point range has not gotten much attention, but nonetheless, it is the one thing preventing him from getting consistent court time.
So far this season, Watford has drained just 20 percent of his attempts from three-point territory. That is a complete 180 from the kind of shooting he displayed in his first four years as a pro where he turned in a 34.9 percent conversion rate from rainbow country. For someone who has a low volume when it comes to hoisting up threes, 20 percent is basically a death knell.
Trendon Watford continues to struggle from beyond the arc for the 76ers
Philadelphia is 21st in the league when it comes to three-point shooting accuracy, so it is not a surprise that Nurse has not given Watford as much run as people think he should. After all, he has been a complete dud as a floor-spacer. Most of the time, he is not even looking to fire away from downtown.
Deploying Watford comes with a number of perks. He is arguable the best playmaking forward the 76ers have, even having played some nominal point guard minutes when Jared McCain was traded and Cameron Payne was not yet on the roster. Defensively, he is an active stopper who can guard multiple positions. His rebounding is also no slouch.
However, the 76ers' scoring attack necessitates having optimal spacing as much as possible. Aside from those alignments featuring Dominick Barlow at the 4 next to Joel Embiid, the team exclusively goes with a 4-out configuration to make life easier for their glut of scorers. That immediately makes it difficult for Watford to sniff the floor when the team is healthy.
Fortunately, Watford is serviceable enough to still be a factor in spurts despite his lack of presence from beyond the arc. But if he wants a shot at more court time, especially in the playoffs, returning to his averages from three-point territory will be imperative.