Guerschon Yabusele has been the breakout star of the 2024 Paris Olympics. He has led France in scoring in both the 82-73 quarterfinal win over Canada and the 73-69 semifinal victory over Germany.
The Real Madrid star has vastly improved since his tenure with the Boston Celtics between 2017-19.
Shortly after France’s semifinal win on Thursday, Yabusele told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe that he’s “gotta tell the Celtics to bring me back.”
Yabusele is a completely different player from the one who left the NBA in 2019. He’s developed into a reliable forward who has a diverse skillset on both sides of the ball. During the Olympics, he’s averaging 12.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game and has emerged as a key piece in France’s rotation.
Unfortunately for Yabusele, it’s unlikely the Celtics make a move to bring him back to Boston. Joe Mazzulla’s team will head into the new season with the aim of defending their championship and securing back-to-back titles. As such, Yabusele would likely struggle to crack the rotation and earn any legitimate playing time.
That doesn’t mean Yabusele can’t make it back into the NBA, though. 29 other teams could potentially develop an interest in seeing what he can bring to their rotation. This past season, he played 24 games in the Liga ACB, averaging 9.3 points and three rebounds while shooting 39.4% from the perimeter and 49% from the field.
Yabusele also played in 22 EuroLeague games, the highest level of competition in Europe. He averaged 10 points and five rebounds and shot 48.1% from three-point range and 56.3% from deep.
Yabusele has one game left in the Olympics. If he continues to thrive and prove himself to be among the best talents that remain in the tournament, he could potentially field some calls from NBA franchises over the remainder of the summer.
However, it’s highly unlikely that one of those phone calls will come from Brad Stevens’ office regarding the Celtics’ final roster spot.
