A yellow light that seemed to be a tad more persistent than usual finally turned green as the Philadelphia 76ers have officially inked Guerschon Yabusele to a new deal. The forward, coming off a breakout stint in the Paris Olympics, now regains his footing in the NBA after more than five years of a sabbatical from the big league.
Yabusele, who last played for the Celtics in 2019, arrives to Philadelphia bagging a much-needed profile. The 76ers may have been the ones to grant his wish to return to the league, but the 28-year-old is no sympathy signing. After all, the squad does have a pressing need — the likes of which he can fill admirably.
Can Guerschon Yabusele be a staple for the 76ers next season?
The 76ers are a bit thin at forward, but Nick Nurse is not one to prefer a 10-man rotation when he has the full liberty. As a result, the realistic bet is that Yabusele will probably start the year off as a third stringern with the team still figuring out its ideal configuration.
Luckily for him, though, training camp will be a nice canvas for him to make a good impression on the coaching staff. Should the team start both Caleb Martin and Kelly Oubre Jr. next to their three All-Stars, there really isn’t an impediment to Yabusele getting the nod as the go-to forward off the bench with KJ Martin still being a question mark.
Should he play well enough during the preseason, he could be looking at a nightly serving of 15-18 minutes of court time, giving the 76ers an uber-physical second-unit frontline with him and Andre Drummond. Depending on the opponent and if the need for a bigger body arises, he could be in line for even more exposure.
Statistically, Yabusele’s carer 41.1 percent conversion rate on three-pointers in Europe probably won’t translate as is on the NBA hardwood. Still, pegging him to drain triples at least at a league-average clip is not vain hope.
2024-25 Prediction: 17.8 MPG, 7.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.1 APG, 47.5 FG%, 35.3 3FG%, 73.1 FT%