It was a busy summer, but a vital one for Yuta Watanabe: a series of important games with the Japanese Olympic team and big learning opportunities and trips around the world that was exhausting but key to his professional development.
He learned how to be more assertive on the court, to do more things to help his team and teammates. How well he took to those lessons will determine what role, if any, he has with the Raptors this coming season.
“With the international team, I had to be that aggressive every time I touched the ball … so that was a lot different,” Watanabe said.