By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Philadelphia 76ers added another huge reinforcement for the upcoming NBA season after acquiring Guerschon Yabusele following his impressive campaign in the recently concluded Paris Olympics.
Yabusele, who was inserted late into the starting rotation due to matchup purposes for the French national team, steered his country to a gold medal game appearance and backstopped Victor Wembanyama during the playoff round of the Olympics.
The six-foot-eight versatile power forward flaunted his skill set in Paris, displaying his deep offensive bag while also anchoring the paint and provide a quick weak side help defense rotation.
Yabusele was one of the big revelations in the Olympics, one of the reasons why the 76ers front office felt they needed his all-around services to help them win an elusive NBA championship title.
It was ESPN veteran NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski who announced the development, adding that Yabusele was offered a one-year $2.1 million deal.
Yabusele will join a revamped Philadelphia squad that signed former Los Angeles Clippers scorer Paul George, Miami Heat’s unsung hero Caleb Martin, and veteran shooter Eric Gordon from the Phoenix Suns.
The French frontcourt anchor will also team up with Team USA’s center and Philadelphia’s franchise player, Joel Embiid, whom he had an intense matchup with during the gold medal game in Paris.
Yabusele’s acquisition stock rose to the roof after spearheading France over Canada and Germany before reaching the finals against Team USA, scoring 22 and 17 points, respectively.
Despite the loss of the French national team against the Americans in the finals, Yabusele was still able to put on a show and dropped 20 markers.
Yabusele was a former 2016 NBA Draft pick by the Boston Celtics, but failed to crack the rotation of the franchise and decided to leave the league to play overseas.
