PHILADELPHIA — Guerschon Yabusele was sincere when assessing himself.
“It’s undoubtedly not what I used to be anticipating to [do] coming into the season,” he mentioned earlier than the Knicks’ 112-109 win over the 76ers at Xfinity Cellular Area. “I believed it might be a little bit extra completely different.”
The Put up beforehand reported that the Knicks are in energetic talks to commerce Yabusele forward of the Feb. 5 deadline. And in the previous few days, he’s made a number of posts on X hinting at a possible departure. On Friday, he reposted a put up from a French basketball account that mentioned “a commerce and a superb state of affairs for the captain [of the French national team], that’s all we’re asking.”
Yabusele performed three minutes Saturday and didn’t rating.
He doesn’t have a lot expertise being the topic of commerce studies.
“It’s nothing that I can management,” Yabusele mentioned. “Simply attempt to be good, getting ready, [be] as prepared as I can. To go on the market when my identify is known as and to offer the whole lot on the courtroom.”
Yabusele on Saturday returned to the world the place he broke out and revamped his NBA profession final 12 months with the 76ers. That emergence got here after a robust exhibiting on the 2024 Summer season Olympics with France after a number of years taking part in abroad.
“Clearly, my function is completely different from final 12 months or from the Olympics,” Yabusele mentioned.
This previous offseason, he was the Knicks’ greatest free company signing in two years, since Donte DiVincenzo. He was speculated to be a giant a part of an improved bench unit, however he’s struggled and largely fallen out of coach Mike Brown’s rotation.
“After we’re wholesome, it’s a little bit powerful,” Brown mentioned of discovering minutes for Yabusele. “As a result of how it’s proper now, our high eight guys are our starters, Mitch [Robinson], Landry [Shamet] and Deuce [McBride]. And for those who take these eight guys, I’ve a threshold of most minutes that I prefer to attempt to play guys within the common season. With these, I can’t even plenty of instances meet the minutes for them, as a result of there’s simply not sufficient minutes there. Typically to consider a ninth and/or tenth man could make it powerful.”
Brown went out of his technique to reward Ariel Hukporti, who performed 4 necessary minutes within the fourth quarter with Karl-Anthony Cities and Mitchell Robinson in foul hassle.
“Ariel, he has been backwards and forwards with the G-League workforce,” Brown mentioned. “So he has been training, taking part in video games, coming right here, he saved himself prepared. We throw him on the market in a vital time and he was phenomenal for us in these minutes.”
Jordan Clarkson’s tumble out of the rotation continued. He didn’t play Saturday.
He performed simply two minutes within the loss to the Mavericks on Monday and solely entered in rubbish time within the win over the Nets on Wednesday.
