PARIS, FRANCE – AUGUST 10: Guerschon Yabusele #7 of Team France reacts to the Men’s Gold Medal Match between Team France and Team USA on Day 15 of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Stade de Bercy Arena on August 10, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo via RvS. Media/Monika Majer/Getty Images)
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French Olympic star Guerschon Yabusele made it clear after the Games that he was looking for possibilities in the NBA.
It looks like he’s going to get his chance. Yabusele reportedly agreed to terms (a minimum one-year contract valued at $2. 1 million) to sign for fellow Olympian Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers, a story told through Shams Charania of The Atheltic and later shown through ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (who had the contract details) and others.
Yabusele has a contract with Real Madrid, a European powerhouse, but has a termination from the NBA for 2. 5 million dollars, and Charania reports that he is negotiating with the club to finalize his departure. The challenge is that under the existing collective bargaining agreement, NBA teams can only offer $850,000 of that termination — the rest would have to come from Yabusele — and Philadelphia rarely pays him enough at the very least to make financial sense for the French forward. Yabusele’s negotiations with Real Madrid have led to a kind of agreement that works for everyone.
In fact, Yabusele seemed ready to return to the NBA at the Paris Olympics. He averaged 14 points per game, shooting 51. 9% and hunting much harder, his game more subtle and mature than with the Celtics from 2017 to 2019. At the time, he wasn’t a player close to doing this.
Yabusele has the best fit for the 76ers’ frontcourt rotation in four stretches. He is physical inside but can handle the field like a big (he shot 39. 4% from 3 for Real Madrid last season, but 28. 6% for France). in the Olympic Games). He would probably leave the bench with 4, betting on Caleb Martin, but Yabusele would have a lot of problems alongside Embiid or his replacement Andre Drummond. Nick Nurse is also expected to have a lot of smaller, non-traditional players. formations with Paul George or Kelly Oubre Jr. at the 4, where Yabusele can even play the small-ball five (or split time in that role with rookie Adem Bona).
Daryl Morey did a marvelous job in Philadelphia this summer, pulling off only Paul George’s big catch, but filling out the roster around his three-star roster with quality actors. Yabusele fits perfectly into this story.
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