{"id":187074,"date":"2025-09-28T07:31:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T07:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/187074\/"},"modified":"2025-09-28T07:31:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T07:31:08","slug":"former-knicks-player-may-have-played-crucial-role-in-guerschon-yabusele-signing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/187074\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Knicks player may have played crucial role in Guerschon Yabusele signing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Using most of the mini mid-level exception to poach Guerschon Yabusele from the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency is still universally considered a great move<\/a> by the New York Knicks. It turns out they may have Quentin Grimes to thank.<\/p>\n

The former Knicks guard is currently engaged in a restricted-free-agency standoff with the Philadelphia 76ers. And as The Stein Line\u2019s Jake Fischer alludes to, the uncertainty over how much he\u2019ll cost<\/a> may have prompted Philly to let go of a player it desperately wanted to keep. \u201cThe Sixers left the clear impression that they were determined to re-sign Grimes\u2014as well as Guerschon Yabusele\u2014but were likewise fearful of straying into the second luxury tax apron,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

Ah, yes. The dreaded second apron, otherwise known to billionaire NBA owners as the Bogeyman. At this moment, though, Knicks fans should refer to it as \u201cThe Primary Reason We Got Yabu!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Knicks owe Quentin Grimes a thank you<\/p>\n

The Sixers sit around $21.6 million underneath the second apron as you read this. Let\u2019s say they kept Yabusele at his current price of $5.5 million. That would have capped their best per-year offer for Grimes at $16.1 million. <\/p>\n

In all likelihood, the ceiling would be even lower. Philly would not have wanted to enter the season with zero wiggle room below the second apron. It would have severely knee-capped their ability to make midseason signings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York\u2019s front office should go ahead and send Grimes an edible arrangement, or a Chipotle\u2019s gift card. Well, actually, no it shouldn\u2019t. That would probably qualify as tampering.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The overall sentiment still stands: Grimes\u2019 restricted free agency contributed to the Knicks landing Yabusele, a player who was never just a luxury, and has become even more important since training camp opened.<\/p>\n

Guerschon Yabusele is more important to New York than expected<\/p>\n

This roster used to be at a deficit of guys the team was comfortable with playing the 4. After OG Anunoby, the next best option was Josh Hart, or Karl-Anthony Towns as part of dual-big combinations<\/a> with Mitchell Robinson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yabusele is New York\u2019s first real crack at a 4 who<\/a> might be able to log minutes as a stretch 5. Scaling up Anunoby or Hart to the center spot isn\u2019t an option. Sliding Towns down to the 4, meanwhile, actually decreases offensive optionality, even if it can help defense.<\/p>\n

Now that training camp is open, Dancing Bear\u2019s value to the Knicks has skyrocketed. Hart revealed at Media Day that he recently re-aggravated a right finger injury<\/a> for which he previously underwent a procedure, and will attempt to play the season out in a splint rather than have surgery. There is a chance he\u2019s fine. There is also a chance he becomes even more of a shooting liability, and sees his finishing around the basket take a dip.<\/p>\n

If Hart is anything less than 100 percent or the Knicks decide they want to lighten his workload while he\u2019s banged up, they are fortunate enough to have Yabusele. He can play in lineups with both Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, and if his threes continue to fall, head coach Mike Brown might even be able to steal a few minutes of Yabu at small forward, alongside both KAT and Robinson.<\/p>\n

To be sure, the latter setup isn\u2019t preferred. But it\u2019s an option. That\u2019s the entire point of Yabusele: He is the human embodiment of optionality, and the Knicks need him. And if not for Grimes\u2019 free-agency standoff with Philly, they might not have him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Using most of the mini mid-level exception to poach Guerschon Yabusele from the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-187074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}