###Interviews with Japanese writer Daisuke Sugiura:
Yuta said…
* He couldn’t handle the pressure in Phoenix where the pressure to win is present.
* He’s been unable to move his body well coming off the bench as he nears his 30s.
* He at this point of his career just tries to enjoy being in the NBA.
* On his wrist injury: He can’t say much about it right now but wants to get healed as soon as possible (this interview is right before being listed OUT due to personal reasons after getting DNP’d despite being available to play and somehow listed OUT next game due to wrist injury)
* On his struggles since the trade: Gotta adjust to the new team. Totally different from what he was doing in Phoenix. The goal of the team is also completely different.
* On this league: He wants to be here but also is not sure riding the NBA bench & not playing at all are what he really wants. He sometimes thinks about it.
…so he kinda needs to start or needs big enough minutes to get into the rhythm but can’t handle high pressure… it’s a tough situation.
Yuta since the trade deadline: 2.6 pts, 31.6% FG (6/19), 10% 3FG (1/10), 0% FT (0/2) in 16.4 min. 3 DNPs when enough bodies were available. He was getting buried on the bench behind vet-min Lamar Stevens, and even two-way Jordan Goodwin or other 10-day guys. He even got DNP’d against Blazers. He was really terrible on both ends and his minutes decreased every game.
###Yuta Watanabe talks about what happened on trade deadline day:
About a month ago, Yuta appeared on the Japanese news program Hodo Station (報道ステーション) and got interviewed.
When he saw a news headline of MEM/BKN/PHX 3-team deal, he was like “I haven’t heard anything from the team. So it can’t be me, I guess. Okay I’m gonna eat a meal…”
But 30 mins before the deadline, his phone started ringing, it was from his agent. “You got traded.”
He was shocked at that time. But he believes and emphasized that it doesn’t mean the Suns didn’t need him anymore. They still needed him, but it’s just that he had to be involved to acquire a new player. (Maybe he meant the Suns didn’t want to trade away Yuta since he’s the key piece to win a championship but they had to do so because of a salary-matching or something like that)
On the other hand, he also said, “The Suns aggressively pursued me in free agency, like, please sign with us. But it’s crazy how quickly their mind has changed. It’s a cold world. There’s no loyalty.”
He said the trade ended up great because he’s able to play more of his Japanese National team self. (Maybe, like, more of a star role instead of a spot-up shooter?)
—
Sources:
https://www.sportingnews.com/jp/nba/news/yuta-watanabe-quotes-practice-20240104/f851dd252d0d649e62b42030
https://www.sportingnews.com/jp/nba/news/yuta-watanabe-post-game-quotes-vs-nets-240131/34409f617464a552f3ea401c
https://www.sportingnews.com/jp/nba/news/yuta-watanabe-post-game-quotes-vs-thunder-240311/cb28b2a12efd4ab4f6f334f4
by drobnjak_
