Trending On Trendon?

Every once in a while in fantasy basketball, you’ll see a stat line from someone on the waiver wire that will literally make you go “Woah, what the hell?” It doesn’t happen often because if you’re familiar with the NBA, you get that fluky performances do happen and aren’t necessarily indicative of anything; this is the same league that once saw Malachi Flynn drop 50 in a game, after all. But sometimes you’ll see a stat line that’s so shockingly, undeniably impressive that you have to think it means something, because it’s just not the kind of stat line total nobodies put up, even as a fluke. And that’s what happened with Trendon Watford on Saturday.

In his first start with the Sixers, Watford played 36 minutes and accumulated an eye-popping 20-17-10 triple-double with a three and a block to boot. He came back to earth on Sunday, putting up just 7-3-2, but it’s not like his Saturday performance was his first notable outing of the year. In his game prior to Saturday’s breakout, Watford went for 16-3-6-2, and two games before that, he almost had another triple-double with a 16-9-7 line. In his four games so far in which he’s played at least 20 minutes, Watford is averaging 14.8 points, 8 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. Not bad at all.

So does this mean you should rush out and add Watford as soon as you can? Maybe not, but it’s also not the worst idea in the world to take a flier on him if you can. On the one hand, the 76ers are pretty deep this year and it’s why Watford wasn’t playing much at the start of the season. There’s not much potential for Watford to score more than the low teens and it bares mentioning that Paul George being out is partly why he was able to have this opportunity in the first place. On the other hand, the biggest area where the Sixers are shallow in is power forward and it would make a lot of sense for the perpetually-hurt George to play at the three when he returns instead of the four, which makes it not implausible that Watford could maintain that starting spot for the foreseeable future. And given the fact that George and Joel Emibiid are hurt allllllll the time, there could be some extended opportunities for Watford to take on a bigger role than one would’ve thought coming into the season.

His lack of defensive stats reduces some of his upside, but I think it’s realistic to see Watford (in a best case realistic scenario) as sort of a better version of Santi Aldama – in other words a player who might not wow you every time but who consistently does enough to be worth rostering. That’s a big maybe, of course. We’re only two games into the Watford-as-a-starter experience and it is worth mentioning that Watford is already on his third team and has been ragingly inconsistent in his career thus far; if you’re skeptical of him, you’re not without justification. That said, the talent is there and his ability to contribute in the assists category as a PF/C is pretty intriguing, as is the fact that he’s almost certainly bought himself a consistent role in the Sixers rotation from here on out. If you’re desperate for a center, you could do worse.

Other notes from the weekend:

Andre Drummond put up 17 and 12. Any time Embiid is out he’s gonna be worth streaming.

VJ Edgecombe has now scored 12 or less in four straight games. I wouldn’t panic though, his talent is indisputable.

Desmond Bane scored only 9 versus Boston and has scored in single-digits in four of his last five games. This is the buy-low opportunity of the century.

Ajay Mitchell had 21-6-4-3 against Memphis and is now averaging 17-4-4 and almost two steals a game. Yes Jalen Williams is out, but Mitchell is a certifiable hooper and it’s ridiculous that he’s still available in 63% of Yahoo leagues. Add him pronto if you’re in a 12-team league.

Andrew Nembhard returned over the weekend. He should justify his draft status so long as he’s healthy.

Aaron Nesmith scored 25 against the Nuggets. You’re gonna get minimal production from him in most categories, but if you need threes and points the opportunities will be there for him all season.

Jalen Green re-injured his hamstring only his second game back. Hopefully he won’t be out too long, he has a chance to be a steal from where he was being drafted.

Ryan O’Neale had 12-7-5-2 against the Clippers. He’s been very steady and while his numbers aren’t wowing, they do make him worth considering given that he should be getting around 30 minutes a night for the rest of the year.

John Collins scored 19 against the Suns. I am all for buying low for him, if only because the Clippers have been a mess so far and it makes all the sense in the world for Collins to be inserted into the starting five at some point.

Nikola Jovic had 29-9-7 in a game this weekend. His stat lines have been all over the place this year and he’s already lost his starting spot, but he’s worth keeping and eye on.

Matas Buzelis had only four points versus the Cavs. I’m a big Buzelis believer and wouldn’t hesitate to try to get him in a trade, on the off chance his owners are losing faith in him.

Derik Queen had 13-5-8 on Saturday. It might not be now, but I’m willing to bet Queen will be a must-own player at some point this season. There’s no reason for Saddiq Bey to be getting more minutes than him.