Guerschon Yabusele is ready for another NBA opportunity

Guerschon Yabusele is ready for another NBA opportunity

Even though host France didn’t win Gold in the 2024 Olympics for men’s or women’s basketball, French wing Guerschon Yabusele was one of the tournament’s biggest winners.

Yabusele, drafted by the Boston Celtics No. 16 overall in the 2016 NBA Draft, has been out of the league for the last five years, playing overseas in China, France and Spain. After a breakout Olympic run, the 28-year-old is ready to make his return to the NBA.

“Been waiting for a 2nd chance,” he wrote on Twitter Sunday. “I’m ready”

Yabusele averaged 14 points and 3.3 rebounds on 51.9 percent shooting in six Olympic games, though the 6-foot-8 wing posted 22, 17 and 20 points in France’s final three games, respectively. His role largely expanded when head coach Vincent Collet opted to bench Rudy Gobert, which netted very fruitful results for both France and Yabusele himself.

He hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since May 8, 2019. In 74 career outings, he averaged just 2.3 points on 44.2 percent shooting and 32.3 percent from 3-point range. Last year with Real Madrid of the Liga ACB, he averaged 9.3 points and 3.0 rebounds on 49.0/39.4/76.8 shooting splits.

At this point in the offseason, it may not seem super likely that a team takes a chance on Yabusele. He was excellent, but I’m not sure if many teams will be sold from a three-game sample in a completely different context than the NBA provides for a full season. We ran into this exact same conversation with Rondae Hollis-Jefferson last summer with South Sudan, albeit during the FIBA World Cup, the little brother of the Olympics.

It’s worth noting, however, that 11 teams have at least open two-way spot available and nine have an open roster spot available. Perhaps a team will invite Yabusele on an Exhibit 10 (training camp) contract to try him out; teams are permitted to sign up to six players on Exhibit 10 contracts, though not every team uses all six of those spots.

It would be a very cool feel-good story if Guerschon Yabusele gets another bite at the apple. He’s paid his dues–especially on the world’s biggest stage. I’m rooting for him, but I will also temper my expectations on an immediate opportunity. I’m not an NBA team, though!

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