Welcome Guerschon Yabusele

[Wilfried]

I think part of this signing was because of his age and potential upside, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Knicks series was a major factor in wanting to sign him.

I still think the Sixers win that Knicks series if Embiid wasn't hobbled, and they got game 2 stolen from them as it was, but Yabusele played in the Olympics how the Knicks played vs the Sixers. Gritty, crashing boards, high intensity, high emotion. Playing high energy all the time. I could see Morey and Nurse looking at that series and saying we need some of that grit, and then watching the Olympics and thinking "He's exactly that type of guy."

Same reason why we signed PJ Tucker and it failed too. Same reason we went after Caleb Martin too, who’s also a gritty guy.

But thing is, when your stars can’t stand the heat in the kitchen, it doesn’t mind how gritty your role players are. Let’s hope Joel and PG show it when we need it, I’m not really convinced they have that in them unfortunately

[Mik317]

it failed w/ PJ because he was unplayable on offense and honestly not even that gritty due to his age

[Zumramania]

PJ was seriously washed and a shadow of his former self. At moments it looked like we played 4 vs. 5 basketball with him. I see Maxey as being more clutch than Joel and PG and I think he should ideally become our "go to" guy, especially if he continues to develop even further. But it is also nice to have Maxey, Joel, PG, even Caleb and not rely on a single player to bail you out.

I also really like this signing, I think Yabusele could ball out and give us that extra sauce that we need. He is hungry and in his prime. This is a good gamble and a move a contender does, not some weak signing just to fill in a roster spot.

[LloydFree]

I think part of this signing was because of his age and potential upside, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Knicks series was a major factor in wanting to sign him.

I still think the Sixers win that Knicks series if Embiid wasn't hobbled, and they got game 2 stolen from them as it was, but Yabusele played in the Olympics how the Knicks played vs the Sixers. Gritty, crashing boards, high intensity, high emotion. Playing high energy all the time. I could see Morey and Nurse looking at that series and saying we need some of that grit, and then watching the Olympics and thinking "He's exactly that type of guy."

The 76ers would have won the Knicks series, simply by having Drummond as Back-up Center, for the few minutes Embiid took rests. I don't know how much Drummond helps in any other series, but he would have kept them from losing to that Knicks team.

[LloydFree]

Assuming the 76ers didn't hide 2 million in a suitcase, in a safety deposit box, somewhere for Yabusele, he's only making 500k this year. Something tells me both he and KJ Martin are going to be playing with extreme intensity to win the available PF minutes on this team. Yabusele: In order to secure a long term contract. KJ Martin: In order to stay on the team and get to that team option.

[FlyingArrow]

I think part of this signing was because of his age and potential upside, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Knicks series was a major factor in wanting to sign him.

I still think the Sixers win that Knicks series if Embiid wasn't hobbled, and they got game 2 stolen from them as it was, but Yabusele played in the Olympics how the Knicks played vs the Sixers. Gritty, crashing boards, high intensity, high emotion. Playing high energy all the time. I could see Morey and Nurse looking at that series and saying we need some of that grit, and then watching the Olympics and thinking "He's exactly that type of guy."

The 76ers would have won the Knicks series, simply by having Drummond as Back-up Center, for the few minutes Embiid took rests. I don't know how much Drummond helps in any other series, but he would have kept them from losing to that Knicks team.

Dennis Rodman made it to the Hall of Fame by being a great rebounder (and being on a team with Jordan/Pippen). He was also a great defender, but also zero offense.

Statistically, Andre Drummond is a better rebounder than Dennis Rodman was. He's not the defender Rodman was, but it's no small thing to have the best rebounder in the NBA since 1970.

[sammorey]

Assuming the 76ers didn't hide 2 million in a suitcase, in a safety deposit box, somewhere for Yabusele, he's only making 500k this year. Something tells me both he and KJ Martin are going to be playing with extreme intensity to win the available PF minutes on this team. Yabusele: In order to secure a long term contract. KJ Martin: In order to stay on the team and get to that team option.

KJ Martin isn't getting that team option. He is a human trade exception.

[LloydFree]

Assuming the 76ers didn't hide 2 million in a suitcase, in a safety deposit box, somewhere for Yabusele, he's only making 500k this year. Something tells me both he and KJ Martin are going to be playing with extreme intensity to win the available PF minutes on this team. Yabusele: In order to secure a long term contract. KJ Martin: In order to stay on the team and get to that team option.

KJ Martin isn't getting that team option. He is a human trade exception.

Most likely. But with Paul George and Caleb Martin now on the team, don't discount the possibility that Kelly Oubre becomes the Odd Man Out, because he may no longer have a defined role in the main lineups.

Whoever fits best around Embiid, George and Maxey is going to play. That means Rebounding and Corner 3's. That's not Oubre.
When they start matching salaries, it wouldn't surprise me if Oubre and McCain are discussed just as much as Martin.

[Foshan]

Love it

[NearingZero]

Assuming the 76ers didn't hide 2 million in a suitcase, in a safety deposit box, somewhere for Yabusele, he's only making 500k this year. Something tells me both he and KJ Martin are going to be playing with extreme intensity to win the available PF minutes on this team. Yabusele: In order to secure a long term contract. KJ Martin: In order to stay on the team and get to that team option.

KJ Martin isn't getting that team option. He is a human trade exception.

Most likely. But with Paul George and Caleb Martin now on the team, don't discount the possibility that Kelly Oubre becomes the Odd Man Out, because he may not longer have a defined role in the main lineups.

Whoever fits best around Embiid, George and Maxey is going to play. That means Rebounding and Corner 3's. That's not Oubre.
When they start matching salaries, it wouldn't surprise me if Oubre and McCain are discussed just as much as Martin.

I'd be surprised if Oubre is not in the team's top 5 in total minutes. He might be top 3 if PG doesn't have a particularly healthy year.

I'm not even a big fan of Oubre's game, but I expect him to be valuable as an "innings eater", if nothing else.

[HotelVitale]

it failed w/ PJ because he was unplayable on offense and honestly not even that gritty due to his age

Yabusele has plenty of good potential on offense and a lot more ways of being effective than Tucker. Just watched the gold medal game again (after various euro highlights over the past week), his shot is sorta slow but totally reliable--good touch and he almost never misses side to side--and he doesn't just need to be wide open in the corner to fire. He also sees the floor and understands offensive space well and can get to the right spot and pass or dribble to shift the defense. Finishes in traffic and can dominate a mismatch, and he's quite good cutting off ball and finding goo spots on the court. His dribbling isn't elite but it's roughly 42,000 times better and more useful than Tucker's, and he's got good strong finishing moves. Don't just mean the Lebron dunk stuff (which ruled) but more regular drives with a big closing or protecting the rim. (He's not very good at straight up isos though).

I don't think he's anything like Tucker on D though. He's strong and plays hard but he doesn't really f with people in the way PJ did, on ball or off. I also don't like his rebounding as much as I wanted to, he seems neither super intense nor super skilled at it. Seems kinda regular for a strong but not huge PF, reminds me of a Morris twin. He does hustle a lot and goes after loose balls etc, but I don't think he'll shore up our rebounding as much as we'd have hoped. His discipline and smarts seem generally worse on defense than offense too, not bad but doesn't seem to be as on point on D.

[HotelVitale]

Most likely. But with Paul George and Caleb Martin now on the team, don't discount the possibility that Kelly Oubre becomes the Odd Man Out, because he may not longer have a defined role in the main lineups. Whoever fits best around Embiid, George and Maxey is going to play. That means Rebounding and Corner 3's. That's not Oubre.
When they start matching salaries, it wouldn't surprise me if Oubre and McCain are discussed just as much as Martin.

I'd be surprised if Oubre is not in the team's top 5 in total minutes. He might be top 3 if PG doesn't have a particularly healthy year.

I'm not even a big fan of Oubre's game, but I expect him to be valuable as an "innings eater", if nothing else.

I'd bet on that too, just because he's at least reliable in his role and plays hard (at least the philly version of him has so far). Even if Yabusele hits and can play that 3D PF role better than expected, Oubre would still be the primary back-up wing and probably get some minutes at the 4 too (or C Martin would with Oubre playing at the 2/3). Hard to see him getting less than 30mpg for most of the RS. Possible lloyd's right about the PO minutes though.

[mjkvol]

I think part of this signing was because of his age and potential upside, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Knicks series was a major factor in wanting to sign him.

I still think the Sixers win that Knicks series if Embiid wasn't hobbled, and they got game 2 stolen from them as it was, but Yabusele played in the Olympics how the Knicks played vs the Sixers. Gritty, crashing boards, high intensity, high emotion. Playing high energy all the time. I could see Morey and Nurse looking at that series and saying we need some of that grit, and then watching the Olympics and thinking "He's exactly that type of guy."

The 76ers would have won the Knicks series, simply by having Drummond as Back-up Center, for the few minutes Embiid took rests. I don't know how much Drummond helps in any other series, but he would have kept them from losing to that Knicks team.

Dennis Rodman made it to the Hall of Fame by being a great rebounder (and being on a team with Jordan/Pippen). He was also a great defender, but also zero offense.

Statistically, Andre Drummond is a better rebounder than Dennis Rodman was. He's not the defender Rodman was, but it's no small thing to have the best rebounder in the NBA since 1970.

Rodman was on his way to the HOF before he ever got to Chicago. He was routinely a game changing presence on those Piston teams regardless if he scored or not. Drummond is a fine backup center, but let's not get crazy comparing him to a guy like Rodman.

[SixthStreet]

I think Yabusele's 3P attempt rate is far too low to be reliable. It's like how BBall is supposedly a good shooter per his G-league stats. I think he can be situationally deployed against certain teams and can help on nights Embiid or George take off. I definitely don't see him in a playoff rotation. Not a bad signing at this stage in the offseason. At least he's in his athletic prime this year.

[Iscull]

I think Yabusele's 3P attempt rate is far too low to be reliable. It's like how BBall is supposedly a good shooter per his G-league stats. I think he can be situationally deployed against certain teams and can help on nights Embiid or George take off. I definitely don't see him in a playoff rotation. Not a bad signing at this stage in the offseason. At least he's in his athletic prime this year.

I think we’ll be surprised with his contribution level. His size and physicality will bully a lot of teams and draw fouls. He’s built like a PF from the 90’s/00’s - not today’s “stretch 4” who’s 220 lbs.

[LeonJordanJr24]

Definitely a type we can scratch off pursueing grant Williams with... Same better athlete

[LloydFree]

Definitely a type we can scratch off pursueing grant Williams with... Same better athlete

Another reason to be happy with the signing. Hopefully he's good enough to keep the 76ers from wasting real resources on overpaid role players like Grant Williams (and Dorian Finney-Smith, who has somehow suddenly fooled fans into thinking he's good).

[HotelVitale]

I think Yabusele's 3P attempt rate is far too low to be reliable. It's like how BBall is supposedly a good shooter per his G-league stats. I think he can be situationally deployed against certain teams and can help on nights Embiid or George take off. I definitely don't see him in a playoff rotation. Not a bad signing at this stage in the offseason. At least he's in his athletic prime this year.

His 3pt rate isn't particularly low. Last year he put up like 5.5 per 36 in the ACB, and about 4 per 36 in Euroleague (about the same in euroleague the year before that). That's in line with many regular role players in the NBA, not particularly high volume but roughly league average these days. They also don't shoot as many 3s in euroleague in general, style's a little less geared towards bombing away (though it's been steadily going up).

Also if you watch him in games he has kind of a slow release but he fires without hesitation when he has a look. Shot also looks good, form is nice and the touch looks good too. Opposite of Reed in that regard. Also Reed was a miserable 3pt shooter in the NBA and not good in college, and is a weak FT shooter as well, Yabusele's been consistently quite good at both for years now in regular professional games, his shot is not theoretical or anything.

Not saying he's going to be an amazing shooter and he's definitely not a movement shooter or sniper who you run plays for. But spot shooting has been a part of his regular game day to day for a while and I think we should slot him as a role-playing floor-spacer. Can definitely put him in the corner and expect him to take any shot the defense gives him (or attack a closeout, another core part of his game).

The flipside is that, if he fails at that, it'd go a long way towards him failing as a player. Hard to see him being good for us if he doesn't shot better than like 33% from 3.

[ProcessDoctor]

Assuming the 76ers didn't hide 2 million in a suitcase, in a safety deposit box, somewhere for Yabusele, he's only making 500k this year. Something tells me both he and KJ Martin are going to be playing with extreme intensity to win the available PF minutes on this team. Yabusele: In order to secure a long term contract. KJ Martin: In order to stay on the team and get to that team option.

KJ Martin isn't getting that team option. He is a human trade exception.

Most likely. But with Paul George and Caleb Martin now on the team, don't discount the possibility that Kelly Oubre becomes the Odd Man Out, because he may no longer have a defined role in the main lineups.

Whoever fits best around Embiid, George and Maxey is going to play. That means Rebounding and Corner 3's. That's not Oubre.
When they start matching salaries, it wouldn't surprise me if Oubre and McCain are discussed just as much as Martin.

I don’t think it’s wise to sign him to long term money. He’s athletic and a fan favorite, but the data on him shows he’s still an inefficient player. If you trade KJ + Oubre + pick(s) for a more efficient and useful duo then I think it’s a win.

[LloydFree]

KJ Martin isn't getting that team option. He is a human trade exception.

Most likely. But with Paul George and Caleb Martin now on the team, don't discount the possibility that Kelly Oubre becomes the Odd Man Out, because he may no longer have a defined role in the main lineups.

Whoever fits best around Embiid, George and Maxey is going to play. That means Rebounding and Corner 3's. That's not Oubre.
When they start matching salaries, it wouldn't surprise me if Oubre and McCain are discussed just as much as Martin.

I don’t think it’s wise to sign him to long term money. He’s athletic and a fan favorite, but the data on him shows he’s still an inefficient player. If you trade KJ + Oubre + pick(s) for a more efficient and useful duo then I think it’s a win.

I like Oubre too. His scoring was sorely needed on last year's team. But he serves no purpose in a lineup that has Embiid, Paul George and Maxey. He's not a "Catch & Shoot" player, he's not a good passer and he's not really a rebounder. Oubre should be a 6th man on this year's team, and it has nothing to do with overall talent. All lineup decisions should be about fit with Embiid and Paul George.