Guerschon Yabusele‘s tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers has come to an end. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Yabusele has left the Sixers and signed a two-year $12 million deal with the New York Knicks.
“Free agent center Guerschon Yabusele has agreed to a two-year, $12 million contract with the New York Knicks, plus a player option, sources tell ESPN,” Charania reported. “The Knicks negotiated the new deal with agents Olivier Mazet and Richie Felder for the big man on Tuesday.”
Yabusele was one of the Sixers’ best players last season. Losing him is a blow to Nick Nurse’s front-court rotation, which is still in need of some fresh talent. Nevertheless, the Sixers knew Yabusele could potentially leave this summer. Daryl Morey’s focus is likely on retaining Quentin Grimes, who shone for the franchise after joining last season.
In 70 outings for Philadelphia, Yabusele averaged 11 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists. He shot 50.1% from the field and 38% from 3-point range. He will now provide a boost to the Knicks’ bench rotation. It will be interesting to see how Morey tries to plug the gap Yabusele will leave behind.
Yabusele Will Want a Consistent Role
During a recent interview with HoopsHype, Yabusele explained that he’s looking for a consistent role with his next team.
“Now that I’ve been on the team where I played and a lot of minutes too, I want to be in a situation where I can play too,” Yabusele said. “I’m not asking to play 40 minutes a game. That would be crazy. But just to be in the right situation for me, for the team, having a goal that we can achieve and have a bunch of guys looking to the right direction.”
He continued.
“And if it’s with the 76ers, I’ll be more than happy. This has been a great, great season and time for me. The fans have been showing me nothing but love, even the organization. If I have to go back there, I’d be more than happy. And then if you’ve got to be somewhere else, I’d be happy, too. I just want to be on a team where we compete and we have the same goals.”
With those comments in mind, Yabusele will head to New York with legitimate expectations. Interestingly, he’s signed with a franchise that is yet to hire a new head coach. Therefore, there’s no guarantee that he will get the role he’s looking for.
Morey Wanted to Keep Yabusele With The Sixers
During a recent news conference, Morey was clear that he would like to keep Yabusele around for the long term.
“We love what Guerschon was able to bring,” Morey said, via Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. “I think that was a great job by our scouting department. A great job by the coaching staff getting the most out of him. Just like Paul (George), he got pressed into some roles that were a little different from what he thought. We thought he was gonna play more of the 4 and he’s excelled there. He gave us a lot of minutes at the 5 as well.”
Unfortunately for the Sixers, their cap situation worked against them in this instance. Now, Yabusele will be suiting up for a conference rival. Still, the coaching staff will likely believe the Sixers are the team to beat in the Eastern Conference, provided they can stay healthy for the entire season.
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