With Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen watching from the sidelines, Rodions Kurucs stuck between Barcelona and Brooklyn and Juan Pablo Vaulet nursing a foot injury, Theo Pinson and Yuta Watanabe have had to step up ... and step up they have.
The two undrafted college seniors —Pinson out of North Carolina, Watanabe out of George Washington— have shone they can play with those who got the call on June 21, particularly on defense. In interviews with beat writers Greg Logan and Brian Lewis, both expressed confidence they provide solid D to a team that desperately needs it.