Could a return to the NBA be on the cards for Yabusele?

Is Yabusele really thinking about having a second shot in the NBA? Who knows? Maybe it’s nothing more than a little light-hearted flirting by Real Madrid’s French power forward, taking advantage of the exposure that his great performance at the 2024 Paris Games has given him in the United States.

Yabusele’s come and get me

The 28-year-old still hasn’t forgotten the two years he spent in the US - a brief spell in the NBA between 2017 and 2019 which brought more pain than glory. But, of course, he is doing everything possible to get people talking about it. So that there is, at the very least, some kind of reaction.

First, he told Boston Globe journalist Gary Washburn to tell Massachusetts to give him a call. He was joking of course, but he said it nevertheless.

The hint was further underlined when he posted another, much clearer message on social media after the Olympic final: “I have been waiting for a second chance… I am ready.”

Yabusele was the 16th pick in the 2016 draft. Just behind Juancho Hernangómez (15) and ahead of Wade Baldwin IV (17), now a star point guard in the Euroleague.

Discreet stint with the Celtics

With the Celtics he played a total of 74 games in which he averaged 2.3 points and 1.4 rebounds. Not exactly figures to get excited about. He simply wasn’t ready, and pretty soon American fans forgot about him... until these Games, where they have seen a Yabusele who is more developed as a player, slimmer and more competitive.

Meanwhile, his colleagues from the national team have also spoken out. Pistons guard Evan Fournier feels he should have a more prominent role at Real Madrid while Mathias Lessort responded to his message on X, noting that he, Yabusele and Isaia Cordinier will all be free agents in the summer of 2025.

It’s no coincidence: the three players (shooting guard, power forward and center) represented the radical change that France made between the first phase, basically a lost soul on the way to a disappointment as host, to its red hot final phase in Paris, where it beat Canada and Germany and fought right to the bitter end in the final against the Dream Team.

To change its spirit and way of playing and reach that brilliant silver medal, France removed Rudy Gobert from the rotation and, beyond the NBA power of Wembanyama, Batum and Fournier, relied on that Euroleague trio: Cordinier, Lessort and a Yabusele who finished the Games with averages of 14 points, 3.3 rebounds and 12.3 PIR. But he shone even more in the big, decisive games: 22 points and 5 rebounds against Canada, 17+7 against Germany and 20+2 against the USA. 18.3 average rating in those three games.

How could Yabusele be released from his contract to return to the NBA?

If Yabusele really wants to go to the NBA, it won’t be easy. He has one year left on his contract with Real Madrid, and his release clause to release himself and return to the United States is, as confirmed by journalist Marc Stein, at 2.5 million dollars. It could have been just one million, but for that to happen the deal would have had to have been closed before 15 July. NBA franchises can only contribute $850,000, according to the latest agreement, to contribute cash to the release of a player. So, barring negotiations with Madrid, he would have to put up basically 1.7 million.

The minimum salary in the NBA for a player who has already accumulated two years of experience in the competition is just over $2 million. So Yabusele, who would not benefit by swapping his contract in Madrid for one of this type in the United States right now. He would basically have to invest one year of his current contract to pay for his release. That is if there were an offer and it was for the minimum or a close amount... The timing is also complicated: many NBA rosters are already basically closed. But there could always be someone who might try to hire him.

Which NBA teams could sign Yabusele?

A rebuilding team, for example, with salary cap room available, could offer him even more than that minimum and try it out. With a strong power forward who is decisive around the rim and has a good hand, you never know...

With the average value of NBA contracts already approaching 12 million a year and the salary cap (the money to invest in salaries next season) above 140 million, the risk would be zero for a team that has been sufficiently intrigued by what Yabusele has done in the Games against teams whose DNA is totally NBA like Canada and Team USA.

At Real Madrid, Yabusele has not had a main role. His talent is unquestionable, and his numerical production is usually notable. But he is not a particularly disciplined player and has not always been reliable in high-tension games. And his path in Madrid (2021-24) includes the sanction for the infamous fight in the second game of the 2022-23 Euroleague quarter-finals, against Partizan.

In any case, the timing wouldn’t be ideal for Real Madrid either, with the European market very squeezed and an inside game from which Vincent Poirier has left and to which Usman Garuba (official confirmation pending) and Serge Ibaka arrive.

Yabusele is a pure No.4, a position in which Mario Hezonja, Gabriel Deck, Garuba himself and the young Eli Ndiaye will have minutes. But if Yabusele were to leave for the NBA, and also leave a good amount of money and free up his salary, Madrid would surely have to go to the market. For now, however, it is all rumours. There is still no ‘Yabusele case’, although the player himself seems to have insisted on making it seem otherwise.