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Yuta Watanabe

Yuta Watanabe announces his retirement from the NBA
r/nba
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A community for NBA discussion.

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• Yuta Watanabe announces his retirement from the NBA

“My 6 year NBA journey has officially ended. Honestly, there were a lot of difficult things, but looking back, these six years have been like a dream. NBA life started in Memphis land. Toronto started to build confidence, Brooklyn where confidence turned into confidence, Phoenix who got his first multi-year contract, and finally returning to Memphis to finish his NBA life. There are so many memories in each land. Basketball has taken me to a really far place where I grew up in the small countryside of Kagawa Prefecture, and I've met so many encounters. I can say I did my all in America. I'm proud of myself for achieving a dream l've always dreamed of since I was little. I'm looking forward to starting a new basketball life in Japan where I was born and raised.”

“Thank you so much to everyone who has supported my NBA challenge so far. And thank you for your continued support!”

https://www.instagram.com/p/C84cc0Iv3gj/?igsh=djdtYmk3cjBwZjZu

[Scotto] The Brooklyn Nets will guarantee the contracts of Yuta Watanabe, Edmond Sumner and Markieff Morris, league sources told @hoopshype . Watanabe has become one of the top 3-point shooters in the NBA. Sumner has played solid backup point guard minutes. Morris is shooting 48.7% on 3s.
r/nba
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A community for NBA discussion.

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• [Scotto] The Brooklyn Nets will guarantee the contracts of Yuta Watanabe, Edmond Sumner and Markieff Morris, league sources told @hoopshype . Watanabe has become one of the top 3-point shooters in the NBA. Sumner has played solid backup point guard minutes. Morris is shooting 48.7% on 3s.
Yuta Watanabe on Lowry: "I miss him a lot. He was my mentor and I learned a lot. But the NBA is a business world, so it is what it is. I wish him the best in Miami. I still have a lot of guys to learn from, like Fred, OG and Pascal. I hope to absorb more from them to grow."
r/torontoraptors
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Yuta Watanabe on Lowry: "I miss him a lot. He was my mentor and I learned a lot. But the NBA is a business world, so it is what it is. I wish him the best in Miami. I still have a lot of guys to learn from, like Fred, OG and Pascal. I hope to absorb more from them to grow."
By not playing tonight, Yuta Watanabe of the Nets no longer has enough 3-pointers to qualify for the league lead. Your new #1 3-point shooter in the NBA? Malcolm Brogdon (49.4%) Sam Hauser is 3rd, Al Horford 5th, Grant Williams 11th.
r/bostonceltics
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• By not playing tonight, Yuta Watanabe of the Nets no longer has enough 3-pointers to qualify for the league lead. Your new #1 3-point shooter in the NBA? Malcolm Brogdon (49.4%) Sam Hauser is 3rd, Al Horford 5th, Grant Williams 11th.
Yuta Watanabe announces his retirement from the NBA
r/suns
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• Yuta Watanabe announces his retirement from the NBA
r/nba •
Yuta Watanabe announces his retirement from the NBA

“My 6 year NBA journey has officially ended. Honestly, there were a lot of difficult things, but looking back, these six years have been like a dream. NBA life started in Memphis land. Toronto started to build confidence, Brooklyn where confidence turned into confidence, Phoenix who got his first multi-year contract, and finally returning to Memphis to finish his NBA life. There are so many memories in each land. Basketball has taken me to a really far place where I grew up in the small countryside of Kagawa Prefecture, and I've met so many encounters. I can say I did my all in America. I'm proud of myself for achieving a dream l've always dreamed of since I was little. I'm looking forward to starting a new basketball life in Japan where I was born and raised.”

“Thank you so much to everyone who has supported my NBA challenge so far. And thank you for your continued support!”

https://www.instagram.com/p/C84cc0Iv3gj/?igsh=djdtYmk3cjBwZjZu

upvotes · comments
Yuta Watanabe on the Dunk: "not going for the block was never an option for me. If I had 100 opportunities to block a dunk and I could block just one of those 100, I will continue to try to block them."
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• Yuta Watanabe on the Dunk: "not going for the block was never an option for me. If I had 100 opportunities to block a dunk and I could block just one of those 100, I will continue to try to block them."
r/torontoraptors •
Yuta was asked about the recent dunk in his post-game interview today - here's the tl;dr translation

Interview (question starts at ~6:05)

Question from reporter: "You became infamous after that dunk. What sort of things have you thought about after you got dunked on?"

Yuta: "When you get dunked on like that, you often become the laughing stock/people make fun of you. But, even though I did become famous for something not great, not going for the block was never an option for me. The only regret I have is that I fouled him. I'd try to block it if I had to do it over again. A lot of players nowadays know that when you get dunked on like that, it goes viral on the internet, so they try to avoid those situations. But I don't think I would deserve any play time if I didn't try to block that dunk and I instead let him score. If I had 100 opportunities to block a dunk and I could block just one of those 100, I will continue to try to block them."

🥲Gotta love the guy.

Source: I speak Japanese

P.S. His name isn't pronounced "Watana-bee", it's "Watana-beh". It always irked me so I needed to get that off my chest. Ok thank you. :)

Edit: Wow, thank you guys so much for the awards!! 🥰

Here’s the dunk for folks who don’t know what he’s referring to.

Also I’m seeing a lot of confusion about the name lol, I found this video of someone saying “Watanabe Ken” if that helps clear things up. 🙂

upvotes · comments
Yuta Watanabe during an interview: “When I hear opponent coaches yelling ‘Don’t let No.18 (Yuta’s number) get open!’, I think to myself ‘Wow, I’m actually on their scouting report.’ and I get a little excited.”
r/nba
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• Yuta Watanabe during an interview: “When I hear opponent coaches yelling ‘Don’t let No.18 (Yuta’s number) get open!’, I think to myself ‘Wow, I’m actually on their scouting report.’ and I get a little excited.”

Yuta Watanabe during an interview: “When I hear opponent coaches yelling ‘Don’t let No.18 (Yuta’s number) get open!’, I think to myself ‘Wow, I’m actually on their scouting report.’ and I get a little excited.”

This was in his response to a reporter asking whether he feels like he has started to be on opponents’ scouting reports recently.

The interview is in Japanese, and can be heard here from 7:54.

[Smith] Totally expected and well earned, Yuta Watanabe gets standard NBA contract from Raptors. No more two-way deal for him
r/torontoraptors
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[Smith] Totally expected and well earned, Yuta Watanabe gets standard NBA contract from Raptors. No more two-way deal for him
r/nba •
[Smith] Totally expected and well earned, Yuta Watanabe gets standard NBA contract from Raptors. No more two-way deal for him
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NBA salary cap expert Eric Pincus: "Yuta Watanabe is an Exhibit 9, so historically, more of an uphill battle to make the team" (A training-camp invite, not a standard contract signee)
r/GoNets
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• NBA salary cap expert Eric Pincus: "Yuta Watanabe is an Exhibit 9, so historically, more of an uphill battle to make the team" (A training-camp invite, not a standard contract signee)

(Sorry for this long-ass post. I know most people don't care but I've seen some people wondering whether there is still an open roster spot.)

https://twitter.com/EricPincus/status/1567964115993530368

Yuta is an Exhibit 9, so historically, more of an uphill battle to make the team

I posted this info via @spotrac here before. But today, salary cap expert Eric Pincus, too, have confirmed it. Watanabe is a training-camp invite, is not on the 15-man standard roster.

He is on a summer contract (camp deal) with an attachment called Exhibit 9 ($6,000 termination fee if injured), which is *very common for a veteran camp signee and simply a non-guaranteed minimum deal that protects the team in case of an injury suffered during the training camp/preseason period.

*e.g. 2019-20 HOU: Anthony Bennett (suffered a knee injury during camp and ended up needing an arthroscopic surgery), 21-22 GSW: Avery Bradley/Langston Galloway, 21-22 NYK: Wayne Selden, 22-23 BOS: Noah Vonleh ...etc.

A lot of these camp deals usually include an Exhibit 10 (Two-way conversion/G-League bonus) and/or an Exhibit 9. You can technically sign a player like Watanabe who isn't eligible for a two-way deal anymore with more than 3 years of NBA service to an Exhibit 10. He'd get up to $50K bonus if waived, assigned to Long Island, and stayed 60 days there. But no Exhibit 10 this time means that there was not mutual interest to get him on the Long Island Nets roster or he is looking for a standard deal either with the Nets or elsewhere. So it is logical to give him an Exhibit 9, especially considering he's been struggling with ankle injuries this off-season. Turned it 2 times during workout (via Japanese National team head coach) & 1 time badly vs Philippines. And summer contracts (camp deals) do not count toward a team's salary cap until the opening day and we can waive him at any time should he get hurt and owe a mere $6K. If he makes the opening night roster, the Exhibit 9 attachment is voided and his contract will be a standard non-guaranteed minimum. Nets can give him (and other camp signees) an audition for the last spot on the 15-man opening night roster but they can also keep that spot open if they have other things in mind.

Keef's contract is fully non-guaranteed too, but as Keith Smith tweeted, he's on a standard contract. So Marks operated as if Keef will make the opening night roster as long as his performance isn't hugely disappointed. (Standard NBA contracts ensure that if a player gets injured while performing for the team, his salary is guaranteed until he recovers or the end of the season. So Marks can't cut Keef at zero cost just because he gets injured and becomes useless.)

The point is that Nets have one more spot open on the 15-man standard roster (opening night roster). Once again, sorry for this long-ass post.