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USA Today
9 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Guerschon Yabusele explains what he's looking for in free agency
Guerschon Yabusele explains what he's looking for in free agency The Philadelphia 76ers found themselves a steal in the form of Guerschon Yabusele. Out of the league for five years, Yabusele put on a show in the 2024 Olympics while playing for his native France and put himself on the NBA radar for his next opportunity. The Sixers swooped in and signed him to a 1-year deal worth only $2.1 million. The Dancing Bear then put on an impressive performance as he averaged 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists while shooting 38% from deep. Yabusele averaged 27.1 minutes per night playing in 70 games with 43 starts playing both the power forward and the center spots with so many injuries. When it comes to free agency, Yabusele will demand a big market. The Sixers want him to return, but one has to wonder if they will have the cap space to do so. In a sit down interview with HoopsHype, Yabusele discussed what he's looking for in free agency: 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. 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. 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. Yabusele is going to be a coveted player when free agency begins on June 30. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens with him and his future, but one has to believe that Philadelphia will find a way to clear some cap space to bring him back. The Sixers have some easily tradeable contracts to clear the way to bring back both Yabusele and Quentin Grimes.


USA Today
6 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
Guerschon Yabusele discusses injury-riddled 2024-25 season for Sixers
Guerschon Yabusele discusses injury-riddled 2024-25 season for Sixers The Philadelphia 76ers were expected to contend in the 2024-25 season. They landed the big fish in free agency by bringing in Paul George on a 4-year $212 million deal as he joined Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey to form one talented Big 3. However, injuries decimated the roster. George was limited to only 41 games as he dealt with a variety of injuries from a bone bruise in his left knee to an adductor issue as well as a finger problem on his left hand that limited him. Embiid only played 19 games due to a bothersome left knee and Maxey even was limited to 52 games. One of the lone bright spots was the play of Guerschon Yabusele. The Dancing Bear was a pickup late in free agency and averaged 11.0 points and 5.6 rebounds along with 2.1 assists while shooting 38% from deep. He played in 70 games with 43 starts and played a lot of different roles as Philadelphia dealt with so many different lineups. In an interview with Basketball Network, Yabusele discussed the injury-riddled season: Injuries are part of the game. You've got to learn and try to get back to it and get better. I think having Joel back, Paul George, this is going to be big for us. When we had those guys, and we had that run, we felt that we could beat everybody. That was really interesting, to have that part of the season, because at least people know that if they (were) healthy, that would have been a different scenario. Yabusele is an unrestricted free agent so it remains to be seen if the Sixers can keep him in tow. Either way, he was a key part of Philadelphia's attack, and the goal should be to bring him back to Philadelphia and keep him as a fixture in this rotation.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Final 2024-25 Philadelphia 76ers player grades: Guerschon Yabusele
The 2024-25 season is in the books for the Philadelphia 76ers, which means it is the time to look back on the season that was for each player. The Sixers finished 24-58 as they missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2016-17 season amid a slew of injuries. The Sixers used a grand total of 30 players throughout the season and an NBA record 53 starting lineups. This series will focus on the 15 players on standard deals and the three on two-way deals to finish the season--not anybody who finished the season on a 10-day deal. Advertisement Up next in this series is big man Guerschon Yabusele who was a surprised many with his strong and constant play. The Sixers could rely on Yabusele on a nightly basis to give them energy, a presence on the offensive end of the floor, and was able to play in 70 games. Here is the final overview and grade for Yabusele in the 2024-25 season: Yabusele's 2024-25 stats Category PPG RPG APG SPG FG% 3FG% Yabusele's numbers 11.0 5.6 2.1 0.8 50.1% 38% Yabusele's overview The Sixers have to like what Yabusele was able to do on the offensive end. He immediately gave them somebody who can space the floor and produce on high volume as he took 3.9 3s per game and knocked them down at an efficient rate. The Dancing Bear was able to give the Sixers somebody to rely on in terms of availability as he started 43 of the 70 games he played and gave Philadelphia scoring, rebounding, and a much-needed energy for a group in need of all of those traits. Yabusele's highlights The best performance Yabusele gave came on Jan. 31 in a showdown with Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. He went for 28 points and seven rebounds with three steals while shooting 12-for-17 from the floor and knocked down four triples on seven attempts. Final grade As mentioned, Yabusele was the one constant for Philadelphia all season. The Sixers knew what they were getting from him on a nightly basis and he came to work with no complaints every night. He played a lot of center when his natural position is at the 4 and one has to believe Philadelphia will do everything it can to retain his services. Final grade: A This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Final 2024-25 Philadelphia 76ers player grades: Guerschon Yabusele


USA Today
04-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Final 2024-25 Philadelphia 76ers player grades: Guerschon Yabusele
Final 2024-25 Philadelphia 76ers player grades: Guerschon Yabusele The 2024-25 season is in the books for the Philadelphia 76ers, which means it is the time to look back on the season that was for each player. The Sixers finished 24-58 as they missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2016-17 season amid a slew of injuries. The Sixers used a grand total of 30 players throughout the season and an NBA record 53 starting lineups. This series will focus on the 15 players on standard deals and the three on two-way deals to finish the season--not anybody who finished the season on a 10-day deal. Up next in this series is big man Guerschon Yabusele who was a surprised many with his strong and constant play. The Sixers could rely on Yabusele on a nightly basis to give them energy, a presence on the offensive end of the floor, and was able to play in 70 games. Here is the final overview and grade for Yabusele in the 2024-25 season: Yabusele's 2024-25 stats Category PPG RPG APG SPG FG% 3FG% Yabusele's numbers 11.0 5.6 2.1 0.8 50.1% 38% Yabusele's overview The Sixers have to like what Yabusele was able to do on the offensive end. He immediately gave them somebody who can space the floor and produce on high volume as he took 3.9 3s per game and knocked them down at an efficient rate. The Dancing Bear was able to give the Sixers somebody to rely on in terms of availability as he started 43 of the 70 games he played and gave Philadelphia scoring, rebounding, and a much-needed energy for a group in need of all of those traits. Yabusele's highlights The best performance Yabusele gave came on Jan. 31 in a showdown with Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. He went for 28 points and seven rebounds with three steals while shooting 12-for-17 from the floor and knocked down four triples on seven attempts. Final grade As mentioned, Yabusele was the one constant for Philadelphia all season. The Sixers knew what they were getting from him on a nightly basis and he came to work with no complaints every night. He played a lot of center when his natural position is at the 4 and one has to believe Philadelphia will do everything it can to retain his services. Final grade: A


USA Today
15-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Guerschon Yabusele discusses future as 1st Sixers season wraps up
Guerschon Yabusele discusses future as 1st Sixers season wraps up PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia 76ers found a diamond in the rough when they brought back Guerschon Yabusele from France on a minimum deal late in the offseason. After two seasons with the Boston Celtics, Yabusele spent five seasons away from the NBA working on his craft and taking steps forward as a player. In his first season back in the NBA with the Sixers, he averaged 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists while shooting 50.1% from the floor and 38% from deep. He was a fantastic piece for the Sixers and was willing to do whatever it was coach Nick Nurse and Co. asked of him, whether it was play his natural position at the 4, or play bigger opponents at the 5. As Yabusele now enters free agency, one has to wonder what comes next for The Dancing Bear. "I'm going to be a free agent," he said on Sunday. "I think it's going to be like one of my first time in my career to be able to be in that situation. So I'm pretty excited, and at the same time, I'm going to take my time to really see what the option's going to be. What's the playing time, what's going to be. This is, like, one of the main concerns, but I'm really not putting any pressure into myself. Just going there to really trying to have some fun and really look for the solution for me." Yabusele played 70 games with 43 starts while playing 27.1 minutes per night. The big man will be looking to take advantage of a very productive season. He will certainly demand a big pay raise from the $2.1 million he received in the 2024-25 season, but he did have a lot of fun playing for the Sixers in his first season in Philadelphia. "I had a lot of fun this season," Yabusele added. "Of course, we have a lot of ups and downs, and, obviously, we don't have the end of the season that we was hoping to have at the beginning of the year, but other than that, I had a lot of fun being here. I enjoyed every day being around my teammates, the coach, everybody around us. For me personally, it was a tough year. I learned a lot was just trying to get better every day, but my hope was to go over there to play hard as I can, learn, and try to get better." While free agency will begin on June 30, Yabusele is not thinking about any of that at the moment. His first season back in the league is what he is focused on. He is going to take time to rest and decompress a bit before getting into any free agency talks. "We just ended the last game of the season," he said. "So I didn't really thought about it, but from coming in here after out of the league for five years, I'm so grateful for the Sixers to be able to give me that chance, and for sure, we will have a lot of talk this offseason."