French Olympic standout Guerschon Yabusele made it clear after the Games that he wanted another chance in the NBA.
Been waiting for a 2nd chance.. I’m ready 😤🧸
— Guerschon Yabusele (@yabusele28) August 11, 2024
It looks like he’s going to get his chance. Yabusele reportedly has agreed to terms — a one-year, $2.1 million league minimum contract — to join fellow Olympian Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers, a story broken by Shams Charania of The Atheltic and later confirmed by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (who had the contract details) and others.
Yabusele is under contract with European power Real Madrid but has a $2.5 million NBA buyout, and Charania reports he is negotiating with the club to make his exit. The challenge is that under the current CBA, NBA teams can only offer $850,000 of that buyout, the rest would have to come from Yabusele, and Philly is not paying him enough on the minimum to have that make financial sense for the French forward. Yabusele’s negotiations with Real Madrid apparently came to some kind of arrangement that works for everyone.
Yabusele certainly looked ready for an NBA return during the Paris Olympics. He averaged 14 points a game, shooting 51.9% and looking far stronger, his game more polished and mature than he did with the Celtics from 2017-19. Back then he wasn’t a player anywhere close to doing this.
GUERSCHON YABUSELE ON LEBRON JAMES. 😳
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 10, 2024
📺 NBC and Peacock | #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/cjrH6Q9Epd
Yabusele is an excellent fit in the 76ers frontcourt rotation as a stretch four. He is physical inside but can space the floor as a big (he shot 39.4% from 3 for Real Madrid last season, but 28.6% for France in the Olympics). He likely would come off the bench at the four, playing behind Caleb Martin, but Yabusele would get a lot of run next to Embiid or his backup Andre Drummond. Also, expect Nick Nurse to run out a lot of non-traditional, smaller lineups with Paul George or Kelly Oubre Jr. at the four, where Yabusele might even play small-ball five (or split time in that role with rookie Adem Bona).
Daryl Morey has done an excellent job in Philadelphia this summer, not only landing the big catch of Paul George but rounding out the roster around his three stars with quality role players. Yabusele fits right into that narrative.
