LSU's Trendon Watford to enter 2020 NBA Draft
LSU freshman Trendon Watford is entering the 2020 NBA draft, he told ESPN on Sunday.
Watford, the No. 73 prospect in the ESPN Top 100, was a consensus top-20 recruit and McDonald's All-American in high school. He averaged 13.6 points and 7.2 rebounds for LSU, being named to the Freshman All-SEC team.
"I am announcing my decision to declare for the NBA draft. Thank you to all who have supported me throughout all the years and a special thanks to my family and friends who have been along this journey."
LSU tied for second in the Southeastern Conference, but saw their tournament and season canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"The last four weeks have been tough. Not being able to compete with my brothers for a SEC championship and possibly a national championship hurt, but I do understand this pandemic and know our health comes first. I'm currently in Baton Rouge right now just quarantining, staying out of the way, and practicing social distancing while trying to stay in shape as much as possible."
Watford's intrigue to teams revolves around his combination of size and shot-creation ability. He has ideal measurements for a NBA power forward at 6'9, 235 pounds with a 7'2 wingspan, and his ability to grab defensive rebounds and ignite LSU's fast-break played a major role in their high-powered offense, which ranked third in the country according to the ESPN BPI. He has excellent touch around the basket, shooting 55% from 2-point range on the season.
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"I really don't know what the draft process will look like. I'm just hopeful that things will return to normal somewhat and I can get a chance to audition and workout for teams. If not then I will be focused on handling the interview process as best as I possibly can with the outcome of being a first round pick. I really want to go through the process because you dream about these things as a kid. I think I would raise my stock also. I'm still hopeful that we will have a combine and some workouts."
"In the meantime, the thing we all can do to help this situation is take it serious and practice social distancing. That's the simplest thing but also the most effective. People are really losing their lives and loved ones so you can't be selfish in that aspect. You may wonder why this would happen during this moment of my career, but its way bigger than that"
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