The Philadelphia 76ers were the team that allowed Guerschon Yabusele to make his impressive and successful return to the NBA after five years of playing in Europe. Even better, the team helped him ameliorate his value, but as everyone knows, that partnership did not persist as long as people expected.
Yabusele was only on a one-year minimum deal with the 76ers last season, and thanks to the 76ers effectively spurning whatever chance they had to secure his services with a new contract by not extending him a pay raise, the burly Frenchman unexpectedly headed to the Big Apple to join the New York Knicks in free agency.
The versatile forward was deemed a savvy addition for the Knicks, which badly needed depth at power forward. Unfortunately for the former 76ers tweener, he is now well on his way to becoming an afterthought in New York’s rotation. Mike Brown has not played him a lot, and at this juncture, there is no telling if the stars will still align to the effect that he can return to playing consistent minutes for his new ball club.
Guerschon Yabusele is falling part with no signs of recovery
Yabusele is averaging 9.9 mnutes per game for the Knicks through eight games — a far cry from the 27.1 minutes he normed for the 76ers last season when he juggled through roles in the starting unit and off the bench.
The Knicks should play him more, but new head coach Mike Brown does not seem to be too convinced by his current production. While his lack of court time is suspect for his failure to shoot the ball well, he has just struggled generally. He has converted on a measly 27.8 percent of his total field goal attempts, while his 23.1 percent conversion rate from rainbow country had only made things tougher for him to crack the regular rotation.
It bears no fruit to revel in someone else’s misery, but Yabusele would have had a much more significant role had he stayed with the 76ers. However, money talks in free agency, and with Philly coming out with a weak offer when the open market officially raised its curtains this summer, he is probably still looking at his new deal as a key marker of success.
Hopefully, Guerschon Yabusele can still turn things around with the Knicks, although the hope is that he does it against every other team. After all, the Philadelphia 76ers will not be too thrilled about a revenge game, right?