Following a thrilling win by the Philadelphia 76ers over the New York Knicks, the latter now find themselves skidding all of a sudden. They have lost four straight games to fall to third place in the East, and their initial branding as the definitive favorites to come out of the East is now in peril due to their poor play as of late.
How does that affect the 76ers? Well, technically, it does not. However, the Knicks front office will probably not just allow this to pass without doubling down on making some tweaks to the roster, and the most probable casualty in this regard is someone with links to Philly from not too long ago — Guerschon Yabusele.
Yabusele, who is still under contract until next season — albeit conditioned on him exercising his player option — is already being shopped by the Knicks. He has been a total non-factor for them so far in this campaign, although it would be difficult to envision him having a long line of suitors. Still, he is a good fit for teams in need of depth and versatility in the frontcourt, just like the 76ers.
Yes, the 76ers.
The 76ers could consider reuniting with Guerschon Yabusele
Philadelphia is still down two rotation-caliber forwards due to injuries, and having another layer of security to bolster their lineup would come in handy. Someone like Yabusele, who played great all-around basketball for them last season, actually deserves more than a mere scant consideration as a trade target.
The Knicks have no functional use for Yabusele, and they might even have to sweeten the pot by attaching a second-round pick to get rid of his deal. If that is the case, the 76ers could position themselves as a landing spot for the Frenchman.
Of course, there is no guarantee that getting Yabusele back would instantly ignite his fire from last season, but he at least has ample experience playing next to the players on the current roster. In addition, his stylistic fit is easy to envision, especially next to Joel Embiid.
Having said that, it takes two to tango. The 76ers might not even be that amenable to taking Yabusele back as shown by their utter refusal to extend him a pay raise during free agency. However, from a purely basketball perspective, they could do much worse than reunite with someone who is basically a sleek fit for their roster.