I loved the Guerschon Yabusele signing for the Knicks. I did! I'll admit it! I thought he was going to be a perfect energy boost for the bench, and would provide some defensive versatility and 3-point shooting like he did in his one season with the Sixers.
That hasn't been the case. Now, Yabusele is quickly falling out of favor with Knicks fans, and if he doesn't turn things around pretty quickly, he could gain the tag of one-hit wonder, a player who came on strong and then faded just as quickly.
Granted, Yabusele signed a two-year, $11 million deal with the Knicks. It's not the end of the world if he doesn't work out. But it's also the kind of move that a team like the Sixers needs to avoid to break through. Missing on free agent additions has held them back in the past, and they may have just as quickly learned that Yabusele wasn't going to produce as much in 2025-26 as he did last season.
In his place, they're rolling with a committee of Dom Barlow, Trendon Watford, Jabari Walker, and Adem Bona. One of them was bound to be good, right? Apparently so! Watford has been a nice surprise, and Bona provides high-level rim protection when he can stay on the floor.
Guerschon Yabusele might be a one-hit wonder in the NBA
Even on a rival team, I don't think this is what Sixers fans hoped would happen to Yabu after his fun redemption arc in Philly last season. He has one of the coolest stories in basketball, and it would be sad to watch him work his way back to the league just to quickly be out of it once more after a short stint with the Knicks.
Is Yabu simply a bad fit on the Knicks? Was he bound for a regression this year regardless? Was he only so effective last year because the stakes were so low in Philly? I don't know the answer to why Yabu is struggling so much in New York — probably a combination of the three.
But the Sixers, despite being sad to watch him leave in the offseason, might have avoided finding out the same thing firsthand by not keeping him a Sixer.