CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers will continue to be without Trendon Watford as the 5-year veteran out of LSU continues to recover from a left adductor strain, but there was some progress made on Wednesday. The Sixers announced that both he and Kelly Oubre Jr. have moved on to individualized workouts on the floor.
Watford, a big pickup in free agency for the Sixers, was beginning to find his groove with his new team. He’s averaging 8.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists while shooting 53.4% from the floor and 38.9% from deep so the Sixers are certainly missing him out there.
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“I’m feeling good,” Watford said on Wednesday. “I mean, I was able to get out there and run a little bit today, me and Kelly, so it went good. Just trying to get better day by day. I feel good, though. So, yeah, I should be getting towards that soon.”
Watford suffered the injury in a Nov. 25 loss to the Orlando Magic in the NBA Cup when he fell to the ground after a possession. He immediately left for the locker room in an effort to get him right and get him the treatment he needed in that moment.
“At the time, I didn’t even know what the injury was,” Watford said. “I just knew what I felt, and I knew I couldn’t run anymore, so I just dropped to the ground. But yeah, it definitely looked worse than the actual injury was. So, just sort of trying to get this muscle back right, and then strengthen it, and then get back out there.”
Watford has had to sit at home and just watch which has been a bother for him when considering he is such a competitor. The Sixers are in the midst of some days off which makes life easy for Watford at the moment, but it doesn’t change the fact that he would much rather be out there and with his teammates.
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“Yeah, it’s hard,” he shook his head. “I mean, the injury is unfortunate, but luckily, like, we’ve had a long little break right here while we’ve been able to sort of sit back and not see the team play too many games, like, every other day. So that little break sort of helped me just really lock in on the rehab and focus on getting back. So it was good for me just do that.”
As mentioned above, Watford can do so many different things on the basketball court whether it’s scoring, defending, playing on the perimeter or in the post, and making plays with his passing or helping on the glass. He sees where he can help out on the floor while watching from his couch at home.
“I mean, me being sort of that Swiss Army Knife guy,” Watford explained. “I can play a lot of positions, so I just see myself like I was before I got hurt. Just playing a lot of positions, 1 through the 4. I think (Nick) Nurse trusts me enough to play a lot of positions, and we’ve talked a lot so, yeah. I see a lot of places that I can plug in and play.”
It appears that Watford is still a ways away, but the Sixers could certainly use a player of his stature in an effort to get him back on the right track. He provides a lot of help on the floor and another depth piece for Nurse and Co. to turn to.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers’ Trendon Watford gives update as he continues injury recovery