Guerschon Yabusele accepted a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Sixers when he decided to return to the NBA, and his performance on that deal has him positioned for a much bigger payday this summer as an unrestricted free agent. The 29-year-old power forward talked about his experience during a recent interview with Basketball Network (hat tip to Souichi Terada of MassLive).
“The main thing, for me, when I decided to go back to the NBA was to enjoy this time,” Yabusele said. “Because the first time, when it stopped, and you realize it’s done fast. It took me five years to come back. So I really decided the main thing was to go over there to enjoy and gain that experience and try to get better. I was happy that I was able to perform.”
Yabusele was a first-round pick by the Celtics in 2016, but he wasn’t able to earn consistent playing time during his two seasons in Boston. He developed into a star with Real Madrid in the EuroLeague, then rekindled NBA interest with a strong showing while representing France in last year’s Summer Olympics.
Philadelphia had a difficult season, but team-wide injury woes gave Yabusele plenty of opportunity to display his skills. He appeared in 70 games, making 43 starts and averaging 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 27.1 minutes per night with .501/.380/.725 shooting numbers.
“It was a good season,” he said. “All the ups and downs. I was able to go out there and really experience, for the first time, being in the league.”
There’s more from Philadelphia:
- The Sixers’ decision with the No. 3 pick will have huge implications for the teams drafting directly behind them, notes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Rutgers forward Ace Bailey is frequently linked with Philadelphia in mock drafts, but Baylor guard V.J. Edgecombe and Texas guard Tre Johnson could be in the mix as well, with some scouts viewing them as better long-term prospects than Bailey. The Sixers may also consider trading down, with one executive telling Pompey that a couple of teams slotted after Philadelphia are conducting “heavy research” on the possibility of moving up to No. 3.
- In the same piece, Pompey states that forward Kelly Oubre is expected to pick up his $8.3MM player option for next season. That echoes a report from Marc Stein last month. Pompey also hears that the Sixers are optimistic about their chances of re-signing free agent guard Quentin Grimes, who scored 21.9 PPG after being acquired from Dallas in February.
- Rookie guard Jared McCain covered Game 1 of the NBA Finals as part of the league’s Player Correspondent Program. The endeavor provides experience for players who may be interested in media careers after retirement. Miami’s Jaime Jaquez, Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels and Chicago’s Matas Buzelis are also participating this year.
76ers need to dump Embiid before he flops himself to another season ending injury.
Ain’t nobody lining up for that trade
They’ll be very lucky to retain Grimes.
Grimes debe salir de alli
Somebody will give him an offer sheet, for sure. And Philly don’t have a lot of cap space next year.
Right. Nets would be wise to press that issue.. even if the Sixers do match it, it will tie up the Sixers payroll even further… could pay off down the road, since it’s a division rival.
I see the Nets being in on Aldama and Grimes as far as RFAs.
Nets wanna overpay Grimes be my guest. Keeps them in continued irrelevancy. Sixers have bigger issues than just retaining Grimes. If Embiid is cooked it’s over anyway no point in having Grimes at 20-25M.
Great example of a guy who just needed the right opportunity. A lot of very good players never get a full opportunity in the nba for whatever reason.
Will the Sixers keep their pick ??
And if they do will they take VJ Edgecombe …
76ers trade #3 for Cason Wallace or Maturin
Presti will draft an all star this month
I really hope sixers go Edgecombe instead of Bailey
The process failed because it got sped up…
Time to start again…