So far, Guerschon Yabusele has been a solid frontcourt pickup for the Sixers
Yabusele has averaged 9.1 points off the bench as a backup center to Andre Drummond. The Frenchman will move to power forward when Joel Embiid returns to the lineup.
Guerschon Yabusele routinely sidesteps any discussion about his solid contributions as a 76er. And he followed that script after Friday night’s road loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles.
The 6-foot-8, 265-pounder had just scored 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting — including making 3 of 4 three-pointers — in the 116-106 setback.
“You know, I am just trying to do my best over here,” he said. “I’m trying to help the team as much as I can. As far as right now, I’m trying not to really focus on myself and try to get a win. That’s the most important thing. … We just need that one, and we’ll be good after that.”
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The Sixers went on to receive a much-needed 107-105 overtime victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night at the Wells Fargo Center. They improved to 2-7 record and snapped a five-game losing streak into the contest. Yabusele finished with career highs of 20 points and eight rebounds. Twelve points and four of his rebounds came in the third quarter.
But Yabusele’s play has been one of the few positives through the Sixers’ first eight games.
The 28-year-old from France is averaging 10.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 21.3 minutes as the backup center to Andre Drummond. He’s shooting 43.2% on three-pointers. And one of his best performance during then came in Monday night’s 118-116 road loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Yabusele had 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists, five three-pointers , and 30:01 minutes played in that loss.
He’ll move to power forward when Joel Embiid makes his season debut on Tuesday against the New York Knicks. The Sixers are excited to see Yabusele play in certain lineups next to Embiid, the 2023 NBA MVP.
“He’s played pretty good almost in every game, right?” coach Nick Nurse said. “He’s finding enough perimeter shots and making enough. He doesn’t make a ton of mistakes, which is huge for us right now. Again, he’s going to get the ball to somebody if he’s in the offense to keep the offense moving. He’ll play really hard, but he’s been good.”
Yabusele signed a one-year, $2.1 million minimum-salary contract summer with the Sixers after helping lead the French national team to a silver medal in the Paris Olympics.
This season marks his second stint in the NBA.
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He played for the Boston Celtics during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons and averaged 2.3 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 6.6 minutes in 74 games with five starts.
Afterward, Yabusele headed back overseas, spending a season with the Nanjing Monkey Kings of the Chinese Basketball Association before joining ASVEL of the French LNB Pro A in 2020.
Yabusele signed with Real Madrid in July 2021. He helped lead the team to the 2023 EuroLeague championship, two Liga ACB titles, and three Spanish Super Cup championships.