Mike Brown, New York Knicks
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Mike Brown, New York Knicks
When the New York Knicks acquired Guerschon Yabusele during the offseason, it looked like a poach.
Yabusele entered the summer on the back of a strong year with the Philadelphia 76ers. His production essentially priced him out of a return to Nick Nurse’s team, leaving the door open for the Knicks to bring him to Madison Square Garden on a two-year $11.2 million contract.
However, under new head coach Mike Brown, Yabusele has struggled to find a role and make an impact.
According to Forbes’NBA Insider, Evan Sidery, the Knicks have now begun shopping Yabusele ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline. New York is reportedly seeking a rotation player who can upgrade its current supporting cast.
“The Knicks are shopping Guerschon Yabusele during trade season for a rotational upgrade,” Sidery reported via X. “After a strong season with the Sixers, Yabusele has been a disappointment in New York. Yabusele’s $5.5 million salary is easily absorbable for teams in need of forward depth.”
Yabusele has suited up for 32 games thus far, averaging 3.3 points and 2.2 rebounds, shooting 41.3% from the field and 34.5% from deep. His production drop has coincided with a significant reduction in minutes. He averaged 27.1 minutes per game last season and is now seeing the floor for an average of 9.9 minutes each night.
Yabusele Has No Plans To Leave The NBA
Yabusele began his career with the Boston Celtics. After two seasons with the team, where he’d struggled to earn a sizeable role, he opted to head back to Europe. During his time abroad, Yabusele developed into one of the best forwards in the EuroLeague and became a mainstay for Real Madrid.
However, during a recent interview with a French YouTuber, Yabusele explained why he isn’t planning on returning to European basketball any time soon.
“If you play three years in the NBA, you get a lifetime pension. After four seasons, medical expenses are covered for life,” Yabusele said. “And after five years, the medical coverage is extended to the entire family. I want to play for five years here in the NBA so that my family can benefit from that lifetime care. You never know what can happen in life.”
Of course, Yabusele would undoubtedly prefer to have a legitimate role while in the NBA. Nevertheless, it’s clear that he also has one eye on a post-basketball future and is willing to ride things out in order to reap the long-term benefits of sticking around in the league.
Towns Is Also struggling with the Knicks’ System
Yabusele isn’t the only player struggling to come to grips with Mike Brown’s movement-based offensive system. In fairness, everyone on the roster is working through an adjustment period. However, no one has endured a bigger role change than Karl-Anthony Towns.
Towns recently discussed his adjustment period when speaking with the media following the Knicks’ loss to the Pistons.
“Different system,” Towns said. “It’s just different. … Biggest adjustment is for me. Like Mike said, I make the biggest sacrifice. We’re figuring it out. We’ve got a long flight, a practice tomorrow, we’ve got to sit down and figure out who we are and how we want to get back on track.”
Towns clearly has a bigger role than Yabusele, and is one of the Knicks’ best players. However, if he’s struggling to adapt, it makes sense that some rotational talents are also finding things difficult.
Luckily for the Knicks, they still have the second half of the regular season to iron out any issues. Because once the playoffs begin, the expectations of an NBA Finals appearance will kick into overdrive.