Since exiting the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency last summer, Guerschon Yabusele has not had his way at all. The Knicks have basically mothballed him this season, culminating in him being a frequent mention in the rumor mill. With the trade deadline coming in a few, he is a lock to don new color ways moving forward.
But to everyone’s probable surprise, it seems like he is headed out of the NBA entirely. The latest intel has Yabusele potentially leaving New York to return to Europe. Hapoel Tel Aviv, a basketball club in Israel, is reportedly showing interest in signing him for the rest of the season. If the Knicks buy his contract out, that could be enough to cudgel him out of the league.
This is a complete fall from grace from the Frenchman, who just turned in a hell of a comeback season in the previous campaign with the 76ers. While he ended up not staying in Philly due to the Knicks outbidding them, he seemed well on his way to entrenching himself as a staple in the league with his impressive play across the board.
Former 76ers forward Guerschon Yabusele suffers brutal fall from grace
This development may be a huge hint at the fact that New York has not garnered a lot of interest for Yabusele. Just recently, there were rumors about the Knicks brain trust trying to acquire San Antonio’s Jeremy Sochan by offering Yabusele and Pacome Dadiet, but the Spurs were said to have expressed zero interest in taking on the forward’s contract given that he has a player option for next season.
To be fair, Yabusele never really got a chance to showcase what he can bring to the table with the Knicks with Mike Brown quickly jettisoning him from the rotation. Through 41 games, he has averaged under nine minutes a night, which is a drastic fall-off from his ample serving of court time last season with the 76ers when he normed north of 27 minutes per outing.
Yabusele likewise did not help himself given that he has not given any incentives for the Knicks coaching staff to hand him more minutes. His shooting has been flat-out abysmal, and there have been concerns about his playing shape coming into the campaign.
If this report comes true and Yabusele indeed ends up returning to Europe, another feel-good story form last season, which involves the 76ers, would have a premature and unfortunate ending. It is what it is, but it definitely is brutal.