Guerschon Yabusele and the New York Knicks have agreed to a two-year, $12 million deal, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The second year features a player option.
After a five-year hiatus, Yabusele returned to the NBA last season as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers and averaged 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting 38 percent from deep and 61.6 percent on two-pointers.
Free agent center Guerschon Yabusele has agreed to a two-year, $12 million contract with the New York Knicks, plus a player option, sources tell ESPN. The Knicks negotiated the new deal with agents Olivier Mazet and Richie Felder for the big man on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/gmYODgPkau
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2025
Grade: A
I dig this deal a lot for New York, even if it’s not some seismic signing set to dramatically change its 2025-26 outlook. Yabusele is a confident, effective floor-spacer who can also attack closeouts as a driver and on-the-move playmaker. He’s a fearless finisher (71 percent at the rim, 65th percentile among bigs) and an adept interior passer. In pick-and-rolls, he’s an imposing screener with the malleability to pop beyond the arc or dive to the rim.
There’s good reason to believe Yabusele’s 38 percent clip from deep is sustainable as well, despite him going just 21-of-65 (32.1 percent) beyond the arc his initial two years in the league. Across five seasons in Europe, the Frenchman drilled 41.1 percent (167-of-406) of his 3-pointers.
If that holds, the Knicks are adding a useful spacer to the front-court, specifically at power forward, where OG Anunoby was really their only player last year who offered both outside shooting and the requisite muscle to man the 4-spot. Each of Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and Precious Achiuwa was missing at least one of those characteristics.
Yabusele will instill welcomed lineup flexibility at a position New York sorely missed it last year. If needed, he can even moonlight as a small-ball five and provide supplementary rim protection; although, his lack of length and vertical pop mitigate some of the positive impact his elite verticality presents.
The Knicks landed a bona fide rotation player at a reasonable price and addressed some clear needs in the process. This is a smart signing that should boost their outlook in a wide open Eastern Conference.
