Daryl Morey Assesses 76ers' Guerschon Yabusele's Return To NBA

Daryl Morey recently looked back at Guerschon Yabusele's performance with the Philadelphia 76ers this past season.

Apr 5, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Guerschon Yabusele (28) is introduced before the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The last offseason was a busy one for the Philadelphia 76ers, as they looked to clean house of their depth picks in exchange for some stronger pieces. This search for additional pieces led them to sign Guerschon Yabusele, who had been out of the NBA since the 2018-19 season.

Yabusele was initially drafted by the Boston Celtics in the 2016 NBA draft, a team in which he'd struggle with, only managing to average 2.3 points per game across his two seasons. Following this, the Frenchman played in leagues all around the world before landing a steady spot with Real Madrid.

Given that Yabusele had been out of the league for several seasons, some saw the signing as a bit of a gamble, but it's more than safe to say that it paid off. The 29-year-old would average 11 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in his return to the NBA.

Apr 5, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Guerschon Yabusele (28) drives to shoot against Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) in the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

It wasn't just his scoring ability that caught the attention of the Sixers faithful, but it was also his ability to use his body on the defensive end of the court, which led him to be put under the basket throughout the season due to the absence of Joel Embiid, and occasionally Andre Drummond. This flexibility was something that Daryl Morey pointed out in his end-of-season press conference.

"We love what Guerschon was able to bring, I think that was a great job by our scouting department, a great job by the coaching staff getting the most out of him," explained Morey. "Just like Paul [George], he got pressed into some roles that were a little different than he thought. We thought he was gonna play more of the 4 and he’s excelled there. He gave us a lot of minutes at the 5 as well.

Despite being an unrestricted free agent in the upcoming offseason, Morey is hopeful of retaining the Frenchman as he sees him playing a role in their future game plan.

"The team going forward, I think his mix of minutes will be a little different when we’re healthy, and we really like his fit going forward, so we would like to retain him," stated Morey. "Obviously, he’s an unrestricted free agent, so it’s not for sure whenever that happens, but we would like to retain him."

Given his performance this season and the reported number of teams that were interested in Yabusele around the trade deadline, it would be no surprise to see Philadelphia contest their attempt to retain him.