The Nets have brought back restricted free agent Trendon Watford, as expected.
After The Post reported Brooklyn had extended Watford a qualifying offer on June 29, the 23-year-old signed it Tuesday, ensuring his return.
Watford — who was an LSU teammate of Cam Thomas — will be on a one-year, $2.7 million deal this upcoming season before becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Brooklyn is roughly $8 million below the luxury-tax threshold, a barrier GM Sean Marks and owner Joe Tsai are determined to stay under in order to reset the punitive repeater tax.
It’s unclear how new coach Jordi Fernandez intends to use Watford.
But last season the Nets used him as a secondary playmaker and late in the season even as a backup point guard, despite his 6-foot-9, 241-pound size.
Watford averaged 6.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 13.6 minutes over 63 games, two of them starts. But he seized his opportunity when interim Kevin Ollie went with a youth movement down the stretch.
The Birmingham, Ala., native scored in double figures eight times in the last 11 games.
Over that final stretch, he averaged 12.9 points, 5.7 boards and 2.2 assists in 25.4 minutes, shooting 54.1 percent overall and 44.0 percent from deep.
While Noah Clowney and Jalen Wilson got to play their rookie seasons, the third member of Brooklyn’s Class of 2023 had his debut campaign cut short by season ending foot surgery after just two cameos and 24 minutes.
But now 19-year-old Dariq Whitehead is joining his second-year teammates in Las Vegas for summer league, and says he’s healthy for the first time in years.
“This is the first time since high school I feel like I can get out there and be myself,” Whitehead told reporters Tuesday.
The Newark-born Whitehead was the top recruit in the country two years ago at Montverde Academy. Injuries hampered his lone campaign at Duke and cut short his rookie season spent at G-League Long Island. He has had three lower-leg surgeries in a year and a half.