July 6: Yabusele’s deal with the Knicks is now official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
As we previously relayed, Yabusele is expected to take a little less than the full taxpayer mid-level exception in order to create some extra breathing room below the Knicks’ hard cap.
According to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link), Yabusele’s deal will be worth $5.5MM in year one and $5.775MM in year two.
July 1: The Knicks are in agreement on a two-year, $12MM deal with free agent forward/center Guerschon Yabusele, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), who reports that the new contract will include a second-year player option.
Based on their cap situation, the Knicks appear set to use their full taxpayer mid-level exception on Yabusele. That would work out to approximately $11.7MM over two seasons.
So far, Yabusele’s second stint in the NBA has gone much better than his first one. The Frenchman struggled to carve out rotation minutes when he became a Celtic at age 22 in 2017 after being drafted 16th overall a year earlier.
However, he was a revelation on a minimum-salary contract with the Sixers in 2024/25, averaging 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 27.1 minutes per game, with a .501/.380/.725 shooting line.
Yabusele has the size to match up with big men in the post and the athleticism to switch onto perimeter players, making him a valuable member of any frontcourt rotation. He’ll give the Knicks another option up front to supplement Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson, likely sliding into the spot previously held by Precious Achiuwa, who is currently a free agent.
According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link), the Nuggets were New York’s top competition for Yabusele, with San Antonio and Milwaukee among the other clubs who expressed interest. The 29-year-old was the No. 22 free agent on our top-50 list.
Now that they’ve committed their taxpayer mid-level exception to Yabusele, the Knicks will be limited to minimum-salary signings (or trades) to fill out their roster.
Well 6M is more than the 4.7M the Sixers could offer.
He was always leaving. He honestly isn’t a big loss.
We will see, as our roster sits currently losing him hurts. He could have been a nice pairing with Watford at the 4. Maybe we can land Lyles there, and/or trade Drum and/or K9 to allow us an additional move or 2. But right now it seems like a loss unless we want PG or K9 taking minutes at the 4….then our rebounding and transition D will continually be exploited. Yabu is replaceable but I’ll miss him.
Dance away and he won’t be missed but a little. It’s all about healthy Joel.
Yabusele brought some excitement to the Celtics years ago. If he’s still smiling these days NYC may be just the place for him. Enjoy!
Sigh
Ugh terrible news for sixers fans, especially since it’s the knicks
Knicks are showing tehy are the team to beat in the East.
They are right there in the East to take it! It will be interesting to see who their coach is and if/how Yabu and company get used. I won’t be surprised to see Bridges get traded. Knicks look to be in the top 2 in the East at the minute.
I see lots of Knicks games, so yes, it will be interesting to see if I can note a change of style and/or any improvement under a new coach.
How have they improved meaningfully?
Sometimes standing still while other teams get worse is an improvement. With Haliburton and Tatum issues they look to be above both of them and on par with Cleveland a notch above the bucks but the bucks are dealing today lol.
The Yabusele addition is more meaningful than it looks on the surface. We needed precisely his archetype to fill out the rotation. Lets the new coach decrease everyone’s minutes by a few from last year and puts everyone in their natural positions (fewer minutes with OG or Hart at the 4). I hate the Clarkson move, however.
Seems like a wide open East this year and the Knicks are squeezing every bit out of their limited manuverability. Let’s hope you’re right, arc!
Strike 2. If we were going to use that MLE, and put in the hard cap, we needed to get a real C, not a side show. NYK are now hard capped at the second apron with only about 3.5 mm left and needing to fill at least 2 more slots. Maybe one more vet minimum, and then a rookie. Can’t resign Achiuwa, or use him in a deal. Hard to imagine a worse off sesaon.
We already have two “real” Centers – Mitch and Hukporti. Yabusele can play there in a small ball lineup too. But he’s a better backup for KAT at the 4 than Precious was. Who were we supposed to get that’s better, for the money available to spend?
I wouldn’t have used the MLE; and instead avoided the hard cap. Unless a guy like Horford made a non-economic decision to come here for a year. Without the hard cap, we could have extended Achiuwa (creating a deadline tradable contract) and signed an unlimited number of vet minimum contracts.
Big guys get hurt a lot, so if your defense uses a rim protector, you need at least 3 on the roster.
He is a good backup for KAT, because he can score. He can also give Brown (soon to be HC) a run for his money at the buffet.
We have to assume they inquired about Horford, with no success. This move gives us flexibility at both 4 and 5. I hear what you’re saying about Precious, but I’m thinking he wants more playing time, more money, or (most probably) both. Yabusele was a good choice, given who was available, for the funds available.
Overshadowed by the Bucks signing Turner.
ShaqFoo:
What does one move have to do with the other? The Knicks were already better than the Bucks so the Bucks had more improvements to make anyway.
I had to look at what Myles Turner and Luke Kornet were making vs what they could get by moving teams now. Both seemed so wanted and needed and happy where they were but I guess players have to take the money when it’s there.
Some good moves for the Knicks thus far. Just need to not screw up the head coach hire and they have a real shot.
For 12 mill. I rather have Precious. Shooting is the biggest need. A stretch 4 that can rebound would have addressed it. We’ll see I guess.
IMO I’d rather have Precious as well. Whatever the Knicks do, Hart needs to be a 6th man. Love Hart, but he’s needed off the bench.
Precious is unplayable at the 4 because he doesn’t shoot. He barely played in the postseason for good reason. Yabusele can hold his own on defense and he’s a force on offense. Can score at all three levels and passes decently too.
Precious is fun, but his weaknesses are too easily taken advantage of come playoff time.
Precious numbers playing with Towns. Was one of best. There is more to basketball than shooting. Thibs didn’t trust Precious. That’s what happened last year. This is where I disagree strongly with Thibs. Yabusele does shoot better. Basically very similar players. Precious is bigger better rebounder. I’ll give him his shot.
Precious vs Yabu is a trade-off (close), but signing Yabu required the MLE which hard caps us, whereas resigning Precious did not. I’m not satisfied with just Mitch and Hukporti at C, I want a 3rd. Otherwise I think it means we’ll see a lot of KAT at C. The flexibility to add another rotational C goes down substantially with the hard cap. But we’ll see.
I guess Ayton didn’t want to come to New York. So much for players wanting to come play in New York. Dolan still leaves a bad taste in players