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The New York Knicks and Guerschon Yabusele have agreed to a 2-year, $12 million contract in free agency, according to Shams Charania of ESPN. He will have a player option in the second year of this contract in New York.
Yabusele, 29, was one of the better frontcourt players on the market this offseason, given his versatility as a defender and rebounding abilities coming off the bench. This past season, Yabusele returned to the NBA, where he served as a backup for Joel Embiid on the Philadelphia 76ers.
After standing out on the French national team in the 2024 Olympics, Yabusele put together a solid 2024-25 campaign, averaging 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 50.1 percent from the floor and 38.0 percent from 3-point range in 70 games.
Although the San Antonio Spurs had Yabusele on their short list of free agent targets, they instead opted to sign Luke Kornet to a four-year, $41 million contract. When it became clear that the French big man was leaving, the 76ers opted to sign former Brooklyn Nets frontcourt talent Trendon Watford to a small contract.
The Denver Nuggets and Knicks were left as the two teams pursuing Yabusele before he ultimately decided to sign with New York on Tuesday, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
This is a big addition to the Knicks frontcourt, as Yabusele will provide immediate depth at the power forward position next to Karl-Anthony Towns and can be relied upon in smaller rotations at the center position.
The Knicks had been seeking ways to improve their frontcourt depth this offseason, and they settled on Yabusele with a team-friendly contract that allows New York to maintain a level of flexibility.
While the 76ers wanted to retain Guerschon Yabusele this offseason, it became apparent that the competition for him in free agency would be too steep. Philadelphia wanted to maintain some financial flexibility given their three big contracts of Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey, which is why they didn't want to utilize most of or all of their MLE to keep Yabusele on a new contract.
Instead, he joins a Knicks team that is coming off a run to the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals and will enter the 2025-26 season with true championship aspirations.
