Much has been made of Yuta Watanabe's red-hot start to the 2022-23 season.
Following two seasons in Toronto, where he struggled to crack a spot in Raptors head coach Nick Nurse's rotation, Watanabe has emerged as a key piece on the Nets. His defense and energy hasn't changed, but he's leveled up in a big way as a 3-point shooter.
Put it this way: Watanabe combined to make 68 3-pointers over 121 games in his first four seasons in the NBA. He's already up to 24 3-pointers through 14 games this season, and he's connecting on them at a 57.1 percent clip.
Sounds good, right? It's the best rate in the NBA.
The NBA leader in 3-PT%: Yuta Watanabe 🎯 pic.twitter.com/lCdd0jxhwC
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 21, 2022
TSN's Steph Noh recently detailed the changes Watanabe made to his form to make him such an effective shooter, but there is one spot in particular where he's doing his damage from.
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Yuta Watanabe can't miss from the corners
Move over, P.J. Tucker. There's a new corner shooter in town.
Of the 24 3-pointers Watanabe has made so far this season, only eight have come from above the 3-point line. The 16 others have come from the corner, which is one of the most valuable shots in basketball.
According to NBA.com, Watanabe is 9-for-13 (69.2 percent) from the right corner and 7-for-8 (87.5 percent) from the left corner. He's almost certainly not going to continue making three-quarters of his corner 3-point attempts, but it's not like he's working with a tiny sample size compared to the rest of the league.
For perspective, only 11 players have made more corner 3s than Watanabe. Not a single one of them is knocking them down at a similar rate.
Based on how well he's shooting right now, it's no wonder why Watanabe has become one of Kevin Durant's favorite targets. Teams used to be able to help off of him rather liberally, but giving him any sort of space these days is a dangerous game, especially when he's camping out in the corner.
