Giving up $2.6 million, Yuta Watanabe returned to Japan, how much money did he make in 6 years of his NBA career?

According to Japanese player Yuta Watanabe's personal social media, he will officially end his six-year NBA career and return to the Japanese B-League next season, for which he gave up the player option worth $2.6 million for next season.

While announcing his decision, Yuta Watanabe also gave two reasons why he ended his NBA career.

The first point: I want to enjoy basketball more purely;

The second point: I had a hard time when I was in my 20s, and in my 30s, I wanted to return to my original intention and play like I did when I was a teenager.

Before the start of the season, Yuta Watanabe signed a two-year, $5 million contract with the Suns, with a $2.6 million player option for the second year.

As a result, he suffered a wrist injury in the middle of the season, and missed some games for personal reasons, which led the Suns to trade him to the grizzlies and directly miss the playoff competition.

As an undrafted player, Yuta Watanabe played for the NBA for a total of six seasons, setting a record for the longest number of Japanese players.

During his time in the NBA, he averaged 13.3 minutes per game, averaging 4.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 0.4 steals per game.

However, with a 37% three-point shooting percentage and a fighting spirit on the defensive end, Yuta Watanabe has a certain amount of base salary competitiveness in the NBA free market.

So after rejecting the $2.6 million player option, how much did Yuta Watanabe, who officially bid farewell to the NBA, make during the 6 years of NBA dreaming?

Born in 1994, Yuta Watanabe earned an NCAA Division I scholarship in 2014 and then spent four seasons at George Washington University, becoming the first Japanese basketball player to receive an NCAA Division I scholarship.

Four years after completing college, Yuta Watanabe officially ran for election in 2018, but the result was still unsuccessful.

Two-way contracts chase dreams

After losing the draft in 2018, Yuta Watanabe did not directly return to the Japanese B-League to get a big contract, but represented the Nets in the summer league.

He was then favored by the Grizzlies and signed to a two-year, two-way contract.

The two-way contract is calculated according to the minimum salary of the rookie of the year, and if it is not on an NBA team, but is delegated, the salary is calculated on a daily basis, and the maximum guarantee part cannot exceed $50,000, which is $75,000 in the 18-19 season and $77,250 in the 19-20 season.

The contract expired in 2020 to continue to pursue dreams

After his two-way contract expired in 2020, the Grizzlies waived Yuta Watanabe, who signed a training camp contract with the Raptors.

He then relied on individual efforts to earn a two-way contract (worth $79,568 in 2020-21) before the start of the season.

He then exploded into the regular season, earning a standard contract at the end of the season ($2.08 million for two years, with no guarantee for the second year).

Signed with the Nets in 2022

After his contract expired in 2022, Yuta Watanabe signed another one-year non-guaranteed contract with the Nets ($1.97 million), and then he exploded again, successfully making this contract a guaranteed contract until the end of the season.

The first "big" contract (2 years 5 million contract with Sun)

Before the start of this season, he followed in Durant's footsteps to join the Suns, and the two sides agreed to a two-year, $5 million contract, which is the largest contract of Watanabe's career.

As a result, after one year of this contract, he gave up the $2.6 million player option for the second year and decided to leave the NBA and return to the Japanese B-League.

Endorsement: Not yet, with his return to the Japanese league, his commercial value will soon be realized

Investment: No public channels

Property & Car: The house is leased and the car is a Lexus RX350

Charity: No public record

In the end, according to the calculation of "Sportskeeda", after deducting various expenses, Yuta Watanabe earned a total net worth of $5 million.

And the American media generally believe that after Yuta Watanabe returns to the Japanese league, the commercial value will be further amplified, and it is expected that the net worth will rise in the future.