Yuki Kawamura was waived, can he return to the NBA?

Yuki Kawamura is saying goodbye to the NBA.

According to official news from the Bulls, the team has waived Japanese defender Yuki Kawamura. The Bulls official posted a picture on social media and wrote: Thank you Kawamura and wish you all the best in the future.

Bulls team reporter KC Johnson later reported more details: The Bulls public relations department confirmed that the reason for laying off Yuki Kawamura was more of a health problem. Affected by pain in his right calf, Kawamura is currently unable to play.

In the previously concluded preseason, Yuki Kawamura missed the last three games due to injury. His performance in the first two games was:

- Against the Cavaliers, 14 minutes, 3 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists

- Against the Cavaliers, 7 minutes, 3 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists Assists, 1 steal

Last summer, Yuki Kawamura performed well in the Olympics. Although the Japanese men's basketball team did not win a game, he averaged 20.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 7.7 assists per game in the three group matches, and his three-point shooting percentage was 40.6%.

Among them, against the French men's basketball team, Yuki Kawamura performed particularly well. He scored 29 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. He scored 12 points in the last quarter, and almost led the team to defeat the French men's basketball team with Bunyama, Gobert and others. If it were not for the referee's efforts, this game should have been recorded in the history of Asian men's basketball.

After his outstanding performance in the Olympics, the Grizzlies gave Yuki Kawamura an E10 contract. In the end, Yuki Kawamura became a two-way player through his hard work. He became the fourth Japanese men's basketball player to land in the NBA and the second Japanese guard to land in the NBA.

During playing for the Grizzlies last season, Yuki Kawamura played in a total of 22 regular season games, averaging 4.2 minutes per game, scoring 1.6 points, 0.5 rebounds, and 0.9 assists, and shooting 30.4% from three-point range.

There is a saying. During the regular season, Yuki Kawamura's role was more like a water cooler (mascot). He would only get the chance to play when there was no suspense in the game.

But in the Development League, Yuki Kawamura's performance is absolutely star-level. He played a total of 24 games, averaging 31 minutes per game, scoring 12.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 1.0 steals, and shooting 41.0% from three-point range.

In addition, in this year's summer league, while playing for the Bulls, Yuki Kawamura also performed very well: in 5 games, he averaged 9.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game, shooting 40.5% from the field, 39.1% from three-point range (9 of 23), and 81.8% from the free throw line.

In the Summer League against the Jazz, Yuki Kawamura played 27 minutes, made 6 of 11 shots, scored 20 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists and 2 steals.

Even though Yuki Kawamura is only 1.73 meters (the latest data from NBA this year , previously reported to be 1.72 meters), he is extremely fast, has outstanding movement and control skills, is very sharp in passing, and is very skillful and accurate in passing techniques and timing. He can often provide top ten assists, and his enjoyment is ranked among the active defenders.

In terms of personal offense, Yuki Kawamura's three-point shooting is also very good. This has been fully proved in FIBA, and his three-point shooting rate in the Development League and Summer League is close to or exceeding 40%. There are really not many Asian defenders who can reach this level.

But Yuki Kawamura's shortcomings are also more obvious. His height is too short. Before being waived, he was the shortest player in the NBA and the only player less than 1.8 meters tall.

This has caused him to suffer serious losses in high-level confrontations. Not only has he become a black hole on the defensive end, but the offensive end has also deteriorated and ended, and he can't even shoot his three-pointers normally.

The NBA is a league that values ​​and encourages "hard work," but the cruel fact is that sometimes "talent" is more important than "hard work."

Some players can be selected as the No. 1 pick even if they don't have any shooting skills. They can be selected as All-Stars multiple times even if they don't work hard to improve their shortcomings in the offseason, just because their talents are so outstanding.

But there are also some players who have put in huge efforts behind the scenes and can kill everyone in the lower-level leagues. However, due to limited talent, once they enter the high-level leagues, they are ignored by everyone and can even be used as water dispensers.

Kawamura Yuki is obviously the latter. It can be said that in today's era, he has played at the highest level that his height can achieve. It will be difficult for any player under 1.75 meters to achieve similar achievements to him.

Personally, I feel that being laid off is a trivial matter. Yuki Kawamura is more important to recover from his injuries. For a player like him who relies on explosive power and speed, if he loses his advantages, he may fall off a cliff.

As for whether you can continue to stay in the NBA? One thing to say, it is difficult. Even if there are teams willing to provide him with two-way services, he will most likely still be a water cooler in the NBA. But if he goes to other leagues, Yuki Kawamura may shine. I look forward to his early recovery. His existence has really inspired many small guards in life.