Regarding the NBA, CBA's young small forward Choi Yong-hee has decided to run for the 2024 rookie selection. Yuta Watanabe, who is also an excellent small forward in Asia, has decided to leave the NBA and return to play in the Japanese J-League. Since Yuta Watanabe and Choi Yong-hee are both small forwards and both Asian players, you might as well predict Choi Yong-hee's NBA draft prospects by comparing their performances in Asian basketball and professional leagues.
渡边雄太
Yuta Watanabe, who was born in 1994, is 2.03 meters tall and weighs 97.5 kilograms, which is the size of a standard small forward. He played a total of 6 seasons in the NBA, averaging 13.3 minutes per game, contributing 4.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 0.4 steals, shooting 42.6% from the field and 37% from three-point range.
From the perspective of his position in the NBA team, Watanabe basically belongs to the team's 9th and 10th appearances, and can be characterized as a fringe rotation player. In terms of average data per game, the score is less than 5 points. It was because it was difficult to get a starting spot in the NBA and it was difficult to get consistent playing time that Watanabe decided to give up the NBA.
In the 2023 World Cup, Yuta Watanabe played a total of 5 times, averaging 35 minutes per game, scoring 14.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1 assist.
崔永熙
Cui Yongxi, born in 2003, is 1.98 meters tall, weighs 93 kilograms, and has an arm span of 2.06 meters.
Choi Yong-hee entered the CBA in the 2022-23 season and can score 11.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists in his rookie season, 15.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists in the regular season this season, and 17.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists so far in the playoffs.
At present, Cui Yongxi is the absolute main force of the Guangzhou men's basketball team, a star player in the CBA, and a local first-line scorer.
In terms of the national team, Choi Yong-hee will be selected for the national team in 2023 and played 5 games, averaging 8.5 minutes per game, averaging 3 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist per game. 本年度代表国家队打了亚预赛，在对阵日本男篮的比赛中，崔永熙出战12分钟，投篮4中1，得到2分1篮板。
横向比较
Due to the age gap between the two, Choi Yong-hee is currently in the formative stage of his career, and he already has the potential to be a first-class small forward in Asia! In the CBA, he is already a first-class star, and he has not yet gotten too many opportunities in the national team. Compared to Yuta Watanabe, he needs to play a dominant performance in the Asian arena! If you benchmark Watanabe, you need to show at least 20+5 performance in the Asian arena to be able to gain a foothold in the NBA.