According to the latest media reports, in the early hours of this morning, Yuta Watanabe of the Grizzlies announced his retirement from the NBA, ending his 6-year NBA career, originally he had one year left on his contract, and it was a $2.6 million player option, but this season Yuta Watanabe averaged only 3.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game, and his average playing time was less than 10 minutes per game.
Yuta Watanabe
On March 22, Beijing time, Yang Hansen, a Chinese teenager known as the domestic Jokic, announced his withdrawal from the 2024 NBA draft, which made it very difficult for many Chinese fans to accept, because Yang Hansen will participate in the NBA draft this season in the CBA, and many NBA scouts came to the Qingdao team to watch his game, and even once ranked Yang Hansen in the first round in the NBA mock draft！
Yang Hansen
But with the withdrawal of Yuta Watanabe, perhaps Yang Hansen's desire to enter the NBA has become weaker, after all, it is estimated that there are more people on the cold bench, and Yang Hansen played very poorly in the playoffs this season, averaging only 8.0 points, 13.5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks and 1.5 steals per game, with a shooting rate of only 33%, compared to the regular season average of 15 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.2 blocks, with a shooting rate of 55.4% , there has been a big decline, and if you participate in the NBA draft with this performance, it is estimated that there is a high probability that you will be defeated!
CBA First Team
So comparing Yuta Watanabe and Zhou Qi's previous national team experience in the NBA, coupled with his poor performance in the CBA playoffs this season, he should continue to study in the CBA next season and go to the 2025 NBA draft with better condition and results next year. Instead of going to the draft with such poor results, which eventually led to failure, even if he was selected at the end of the second round, he would just go to the NBA to sit on the cold bench, and he didn't get any chance at all, but delayed himself!
Zhou Qi