The Philadelphia 76ers have enlisted foreign help in their ongoing Atlantic Division arms race with the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics.
According to multiple reports, the first coming from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Philadelphia has added Olympic star Guerschon Yabusele to its roster in an attempt to break out of the seventh seed that set up a memorable first-round clash with the Knicks last spring.
Yabusele, who already had a few cups of coffee with the Celtics after being selected in the first round in 2016, is coming off a strong showing at the Paris Olympics, where he finished second in scoring for host France behind San Antonio sensation Victor Wembanyama. He notably scored 20 points in the gold medal game, which saw France give Team USA everything it could before Stephen Curry’s outside prowess saved the day.
It’s going to take a lot to get the Knicks fans off their feet, which, surprisingly, were obtained without much player movement. The Mikal Bridges trade seems like an eternity ago, especially considering the lack of male representation in the Paris metropolis. Other additions in the interim (e.g. Cameron Payne, the re-signing of Precious Achiuwa) probably don’t move the needle in a noticeable direction, while Boston has mostly opted to go back in time with its 18th championship team.
But Yabusele’s arrival may be the most subtle of attacks on the Knicks, whose lack of new paint would require a trip to Home Depot under different circumstances.
Even the most optimistic Knicks fans, fully convinced that winds of discord and change are finally coming to Manhattan after more than five decades, must be disturbed by the lack of activity at the four and five, especially after Isaiah Hartenstein chased the big bucks in Oklahoma City.
The free-agent market has nearly dried up (to the point that top player Omer Yurtseven was reportedly waived after a workout) and the Knicks waited until the final minute of the draft to address those issues, using the 58th and final pick on German-born prospect Ariel Hukporti. The trade deadline should provide some veteran replenishment, but the Knicks need to be ready from day one, given that Boston won the conference by 14 games.
The Knicks’ postgame picture is dominated by both good and bad news: Reliability and familiarity reign in the forms of Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson, but both are returning from major injuries. Achiuwa should at least alleviate some concerns (and did last season), but it will take more than that for both to consistently stay off the injured list.
Yabusele’s arrival in Philadelphia, showing that he’s not letting anything go to overcome his penalty-killing deficiencies, is one of the best ways the Knicks can take advantage of Manhattan’s inactivity. In addition to attacking an area the Knicks have woefully neglected, it addresses two areas that led to the Sixers’ demise.
Yabusele’s 6-foot-8, 271-pound frame (and the addition of the equally big Andre Drummond) should come in handy when they try to get crucial rebounds, like the ones they lost late in Game 2 before Donte DiVincenzo’s heroic shot.
Philadelphia has also been unable to score from deep, unable to counter the Knicks’ similar attack led by Miles McBride. Yabusele’s offensive attack, highlighted in the Olympics and Euroleague, should help provide depth while Caleb Martin and Eric Gordon fill the void left by Tobias Harris.
In the grand scheme of things, there will be no, and frankly there should be no, tears over the loss of Yabusele, which may well become the product of simple recency bias. The Knicks got all they could handle against the Sixers last postseason and showed they can handle the business of the division even when Embiid is healthy.
In fact, lamenting the loss of Yabusele might be a sign of metropolitan maturity: New York summers used to be defined in part by the absence of Donovan Mitchell or LeBron James, for example. Now that they’re dealing with Yabusele and Yurtseven, the Knicks are in a real competitive position, because those needs can still be filled in the relatively near future.
Still, it’s worth wondering whether disappearing in the middle of the City of Lights’ brightest hour isn’t perhaps one of the few things that could cause a summer collapse on this wave of momentum.
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