JULY 3: The Suns have officially signed Watanabe and Metu to their minimum-salary contracts, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
JUNE 30: The Suns are reportedly adding two new free agents to surround their starry core of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Deandre Ayton.
Sources inform Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) that sharpshooting ex-Nets small forward Yuta Watanabe has reached an agreement to join the Suns. Meanwhile, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter) that former Kings big man Chimezie Metu is also signing a one-year deal with the team.
Exact terms of these new contracts have yet to be revealed. Presumably, both these deals would be for veteran’s minimums, due to Phoenix’s current spending restrictions.
Watanabe, a 6’9″ swingman out of George Washington, gives Phoenix some lethal long range versatility on the wing following a breakout season in Brooklyn, most of which was spent playing alongside fellow ex-Net Durant. The 28-year-old averaged 5.6 PPG on a .491/.444/.723 slash line, along with 2.4 RPG, in his 58 contests with Brooklyn.
Metu, a 6’9″ power forward/center out of USC, had spent all five of his prior NBA seasons with Sacramento. In 2022/23 under new head coach Mike Brown, he saw his numbers and role take a bit of a dip while the club improved to a 48-34 record and its first playoff berth since 2006. Across 66 contests, Metu averaged 4.9 PPG and 3.0 RPG in 10.4 MPG. He will for now serve as a key frontcourt backup.
Metu instead of Craig?
Gotta say, the Suns have done pretty well filling out their roster. Wasn’t a fan of the Beal deal, but getting a guy like Yuta is big for them (and Diop, for that matter).
They getting some nice free agents for cheap.
Good for Yuta. I would’ve liked to see him stay in Brooklyn, but this makes sense.
Couple nice moves for the suns
OK ……. looking better
Yuta has that Japanese samurai mentality. Fall down and get right back up. I’ve never seen him lay down the floor after a foul for longer than half a second. Hes a hard worker who is there to play. KD saw that in him and requested the ownership to recuit him
Even with these additions and the team’s current payroll level,
The Phoenix Suns can still afford to sign:
ME TOO !!
Love these signings. Phx is literally signing dudes who will die on the court & have chips on their shoulders.