Olympic star Guershon Yabusele attempts to return to NBA, reportedly gets $2.5 million contract with Real Madrid
The 2024 Olympic men’s basketball tournament was a showcase for superstars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama, but it was also a chance for lesser-known players to prove just how much better they are than the world’s best. One standout? French forward Guershon Yabusele, who averaged 14 points at the Olympics, even had a pretty spectacular shot. Rare stings On James. Yabusele was selected No. 16 by the Boston Celtics in the 2016 NBA Draft, but hasn’t played in the NBA since 2019. Now, he wants another shot at the big time.
On Sunday, Yabusele tweeted, “Been waiting for a second chance… I’m ready.” There’s just one small hitch. Yabusele is under contract with Real Madrid for another season. His contract has a buyout, but according to Marc Stein, it’s not cheap: $2.5 million. Ironically, the buyout would have only cost $1 million if it had happened before July 15, but Real Madrid had anticipated the possibility of a lead-up to the Olympics and planned ahead. NBA teams are allowed to pay a certain amount of a player’s international buyout. This season, that figure is $850,000, leaving the remaining $1.65 million with Yabusele.
For most NBA players, a $1.65 million buyout would not be very expensive. However, remember that Yabusele only played in the NBA for a short time. That’s a pretty big amount of money for most players in Europe, and that’s without considering what kind of contract he could get in the NBA. Even on a one-year guaranteed minimum contract, he would only make a little less than $2.1 million, since the NBA’s minimum salary is based on years of service and Yabusele only has two years. If Yabusele doesn’t get a guaranteed offer and instead is invited to someone’s training camp to simply try out, he would be putting his Real Madrid contract and that buyout payment at risk, without any assurance that he would even join an NBA team. That’s obviously a huge risk.
However, the reward will be substantial, as NBA players earn far more than international players. If Yabusele can prove he’s capable of contributing to an NBA winner, his long-term earnings potential will skyrocket. Is he capable of doing that? The Olympics certainly indicated he can do that. He’s a big, physical forward who can score inside and has defensive versatility. He hasn’t been a high-volume 3-point shooter in Europe, but in his international career, he’s shot 40.7% from deep on 3.3 attempts per game. He may not be an NBA star, but that’s the profile of a useful role player.
Practically every team in the NBA could use another forward, especially if he’s willing to come on the cheap. Yabusele wants to get back to the NBA, and even though there are odds, he’s worth a look for anyone with available minutes on the wing. No interest has been shown yet, but the Olympics just ended and training camps are more than a month away. That’s plenty of time for a team to consider him as an option.
