In hindsight, the Philadelphia 76ers should’ve raised the white flag earlier last season. Philadelphia spent most of the year massively short-handed and fighting for a Play-In Tournament berth. Guerschon Yabusele’s breakout was one of the main reasons the 76ers delayed the inevitable in what became a lost season.
McCain reacted to Yabusele leaving Philadelphia
Now, he’s a member of the New York Knicks. Just as fans finally accepted it, Jared McCain gave a heartwarming reaction to Yabusele’s departure from Philadelphia in an interview with Declan Harris of Sports Illustrated, which reopened a wound close to being sealed.
“Man, I'm gonna miss him, that's one of the best people I've ever been around,” McCain said. “I could go to him for anything, a lot of my teammates are like that, but him, I gravitated to a lot. He was just super nice, just a good person and fun to play with, also another great energy person, so I'm sad to see him go. I talked to him a few times since he left, but I'll see him a lot in New York.”
Yabusele made the 76ers fun in a nightmarish season
The 76ers signed Yabusele to a one-year veteran minimum contract after his strong showing with Team France in the 2024 Olympics. Yabusele’s feel for the game and iconic poster over LeBron James, which people jokingly claimed was AI, made it an easy decision for Philadelphia to take a gamble on him. Boy, did it pay off.
Yabusele revitalized his NBA career after a five-year hiatus. He posted 11 points per game on 61.6% true-shooting, 5.6 rebounds per game, and 2.1 assists per game in 70 games for the 76ers last season. Yabusele was originally drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 16th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. He averaged 2.3 points per game in two seasons with the Celtics and was out of the league after the 2018-19 season.
Yabusele returned to the NBA as more of a well-rounded player following stints across various overseas leagues. His revamped offensive approach added an interesting layer to Philadelphia. Yabusele excelled in pick-and-pops, which was something he and Jared McCain ran at a high level. The Frenchman was also an instinctive connective passer and reliable post-up player.
A player of Yabusele’s caliber would’ve been invaluable to the 76ers in past postseason runs, and unfortunately, he wasn’t able to share the floor with Joel Embiid much. A front-court tandem of Embiid and Yabusele could’ve been excellent offensively. Sadly, we’ll never see the duo at their full potential as Yabusele signed a two-year/$12 million deal with the Knicks on July 1st.