Yuta Watanabe Credits the Raptors For His Success This Season: 'It's Because of Them'

Brooklyn Nets sharpshooter Yuta Watanabe says he credit the Toronto Raptors for the success he's having this season as one of the NBA's best shooters

Aaron Rose | Dec 17, 2022

Tell Yuta Watanabe he's the best shooter in the world and he'll blush. A smile wipes across his face almost in disbelief. Can you believe it, I asked him Friday.

"Definitely not gonna believe that," he said sitting at his locker awaiting his return to Toronto for the first time since signing with the Brooklyn Nets.

All of this is unbelievable for Watanabe, the 28-year-old forward who is shooting a league-leading 53.8% from behind the arc this season and has solidified himself as one of the most valuable players off the bench in Brooklyn. It was just four months ago that Watanabe's NBA days seemed to be over. His two years in Toronto had been plagued by injuries and the Raptors were convinced it was time to move on.

But confidence can be a strange thing. Even as Watanabe sat awaiting an NBA offer over the summer, one he didn't receive until late in August, his time in Toronto had proven to himself that he was good enough to be an NBA player.

"I cannot thank them enough for giving me two years [of] opportunity," he said. "I've been through like a lot of up down, there was a time I was playing a lot of minutes, there was time I was playing like zero minutes, but there's still every game, every practice, just being on this team, I learned a lot of stuff, learned from [the] coaches a lot. So, yeah, having success now it's because of them."

For Toronto, Watanabe is a strange one. Is he a developmental and scouting success or is letting a player of his caliber walk out the door unsigned and unwanted some sort of organizational failure? As he rained down a trio of three-pointers Friday night, you couldn't help but wonder if the league's most efficient three-point shooter couldn't help one of the league's worst shooting teams.

"We kind of do the best we can to develop the guys we have while we have them. Some of them are going to move on for a myriad of reasons. Some of them are gonna come back and play against us," Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. "We did our best with him. I keep saying it was hard. He was really good and then not so good, and dealt with a lot of injuries and sickness. So it was hard to decide if we were going to continue on."

Watanabe holds no ill will toward the Raptors for deciding to move on. In a recent video with the Nets social media team, he said his favorite city to visit on the road is still Toronto.

Why?

"Because I still love Toronto. Love my teammates. Love this arena. Love the fans," he said.

The feeling is mutual. As he checked into the game Friday night late in the first quarter, the Raptors faithful erupted in applause. That love only waivered in the fourth quarter when Watanabe nailed the first of Brooklyn's two decisive three-pointers, a corner jumper off a kick-out pass from Kyrie Irving.

"They know I'm a good shooter," he said told reporters post-game. "That's my spot."

The Raptors clearly didn't.

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