Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Yuta Watanabe
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Although Watanabe has become a reliable threat from the perimeter, his overall outlook remains bleak. He finished the 2022-23 season as the 299th-ranked player in standard leagues, the first time in his career that he has broken into the top 300. In 16 minutes per night, he averaged 5.6 points and 1.0 three-pointers. After signing a two-year deal with the Suns during the offseason, Watanabe should provide excellent floor spacing from the power forward position. There is a role to be had for Watanabe, assuming he can maintain elite efficiency from the perimeter. With that said, his game is very one-dimensional, meaning he is unlikely to crack 20 minutes very often. Outside of some potential streaming value, he is better suited to very deep leagues.
After two unimpressive seasons in Memphis, Watanabe signed a two-way deal with the Raptors last offseason. The 26-year-old's season was nothing too special, as he averaged 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 14.5 minutes per game. While none of those stats are great, all of them marked career highs for Watanabe. The George Washington product also shot an impressive 40.0 percent from three as well. This year, it is looking like Watanabe is still going to be near the bottom of Toronto's rotation. The team has the likes of OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam and Chris Boucher on the team. The Raptors also added Precious Achiuwa, Scottie Barnes and Isaac Bonga. Due to Watanabe's unimpressive play and Toronto's depth at the position, it is hard to imagine a big season out of the three-year-pro.