As expected, Yuta Watanabe has finalized a contract with the B.League's Chiba Jets for the 2024-25 season.
For the past several weeks, media outlets reported that a deal was imminent.
The Jets posted a news release on their website on Thursday, July 11 stating that the former NBA player and the team had "reached a basic agreement" on a contract for the upcoming season.
On Thursday evening, Watanabe, 29, announced that he is officially joining the Jets, who have been a title contender since the B.League's inception in 2016.
"Excited to announce that I have signed with Chiba Jets," Watanabe wrote on his Instagram account. "I'm super excited to start a new professional career back in Japan."
Watanabe joins a Jets squad featuring perennial All-Star point guard Yuki Togashi, talented big man John Mooney and an influx of new players.
Chiba moves into a new home arena this season, playing its opener at LaLa Arena Tokyo-Bay on October 5 against the Utsunomiya Brex.
Yuta Watanabe: From Kagawa Prefecture to the NBA
Watanabe went to Kagawa Prefecture's Jinsei Gakuen High School and then spent one year at St Thomas More School in Connecticut, graduating in 2014. He attended George Washington University (2014-18) before embarking on a professional career with stints in the NBA and the NBA G League. A versatile 206-cm (6-foot-9) forward, Watanabe has played multiple positions throughout his pro career.
In the NBA, Watanabe suited up for the Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns.
He appeared in his first NBA game in October 2018 with the Grizzlies. Watanabe played his most recent NBA game in March 2024 after he was traded by the Suns to the Grizzlies. He only appeared in 34 games in the 2023-24 campaign.
In 213 NBA games in that six-season span, Watanabe averaged 4.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.3 blocks and 13.3 minutes per game. Appearing in 56 NBA G League games in the 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons, Watanabe had averages of 15.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 blocks.
Seeking a Change of Scenery
Speaking on Instagram Live in April, Watanabe discussed his decision to pursue opportunities in the B.League after spending more than a decade playing college and pro ball in North America.
"I just want to play basketball [and] I want to step into the game and do what I do in practice," Watanabe said on the social media platform.
Added the Japan national team standout, "I grinded through my 20s but now I hope to play basketball the way I like."
Watanabe was one of the veteran leaders for the Japan men's national team, aka Akatsuki Japan, during the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Okinawa City, where the team qualified outright for the Olympic basketball tournament for the first time since the 1976 Montreal Games.
Japan's 12-man roster for the Paris Olympics was announced on Monday, July 8. Watanabe is on the squad after previously suiting up for the national team at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
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Author: Ed Odeven
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.
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