Guerschon Yabusele Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Celtics Notes: Tatum, Morris, Yabusele, Irving

October 8th, 2017 at 1:28pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Sixers had strong interest in Celtics rookie Jayson Tatum after landing the third pick in this year’s lottery, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Philadelphia sent a large group to Los Angeles to watch Tatum work out, and the Duke freshman’s talents on offense were obvious. “He had sort of a different type of NBA game where a lot of his workout was at that sort of Carmelo [Anthony] isolation, the 18-foot spot where he can turn and face and have a series of moves that we felt like actually could translate to the NBA,” said Sixers coach Brett Brown. “And then he started picking and popping and shooting NBA threes. But his offensive ability stood out, and the person stood out.”

Tatum had a sense that he was headed to Philadelphia, with Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball projected as the top picks. That was before the Sixers completed a trade to get the number one selection from Boston, a deal that Tatum knows will probably link him with Fultz for as long as they’re both in the NBA. “It’ll be interesting to see how things play out over the years,” Tatum said.

There’s more today out of Boston:

Coach Brad Stevens had planned to use Celtics newcomer Marcus Morris in Friday’s game, but Morris asked for more time to prepare, relays Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald. Morris didn’t practice with the Celtics until Thursday because of an assault trial in Phoenix in which he and his brother were both acquitted. “I did miss training camp and part of the preseason,” Morris said, “so I need to just get a couple more practices up under my belt to get moving a little bit better.”
The Celtics have clear instructions for rookie Guerschon Yabusele, who figures to see time as a backup center and power forward, Bulpett writes in the same story. They want him to pattern his game after Al Horford. Yabusele was taken with the 16th pick in the 2016 draft, then spent last season in China before joining Boston’s G League affiliate late in the year. “We know what he brings to the table, so, again, it’s matching him up with the right guys around him,” Stevens said. “But he’s got to be a guy that can kind of be a playmaker a la Al for us, where he gets the ball at the top of the key and can be a passer, he can shoot it, he can drive it.”
New Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving is happy with Stevens’ decision not to name a team captain, Bulpett adds. Irving said being a captain was a big deal in grade school, but shouldn’t matter in the NBA. “We all have leadership within ourselves,” he said. “We have to police ourselves, at the end of the day, and then make it make sense for our team. And if we remain growth oriented and have that humility to continue to get better and know where we come from and know what we bring to the table, we’ll be fine.”

Atlantic Notes: Russell, Henderson, Covington, Yabusele

August 17th, 2017 at 9:56pm CST by Arthur Hill

D’Angelo Russell‘s first reaction upon being traded from the Lakers to the Nets was excitement over the new opportunity, relays Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily. Russell touched on a wide variety of topics during an interview today on WFAN with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts. He believes the Nets have an “underrated group of guys” with a mixture of young players and veterans who are ready to exceed expectations.

Russell also brushed aside comments from Lakers executive Magic Johnson about needing a leader and said he’s not upset about being traded. “It’s business, man. That’s how I got to look at it,” Russell said. “A lot of things happen in this league and you don’t agree with it or however you may feel about it and at the end of the day realize it’s business.”

There’s more news from the Atlantic Division:

The Nets will probably add one more veteran before camp, but not on a guaranteed deal, according to a tweet from NetsDaily. Brooklyn still has a little bit of cap space remaining.
Former Sixers guard Gerald Henderson underwent surgery today to repair his left hip, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. His agent, Jim Tanner, confirmed the surgery and said Henderson will start rehab next week in hopes of returning to the NBA, although there is concern he could be sidelined for the entire season. Philadelphia waived Henderson at the end of June before his $9MM salary for next year became guaranteed.
Sixers forward Robert Covington is an “X factor” on a roster filled with young talent, writes Dennis Chambers of Basketball Insiders. The 26-year-old has been a fixture in Philadelphia’s starting lineup over the past three seasons and provides a blend of 3-point shooting and defense, finishing third in the league last year in Defensive Real Plus-Minus. Covington is entering the final year of his contract at $1.577MM and Chambers speculates that the team wants to get an extension done soon.
Draft-and-stash Celtics big man Guerschon Yabusele is reporting progress after having bone spurs removed from both ankles in May, relays Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. Yabusele is looking forward to joining the Celtics this upcoming season after spending last year in China and the G League. He believes he’s close to being medically cleared for a full-speed, on-court workout. “I’ve been running a little bit and doing some bike stuff and just keeping my ankle moving,” Yabusele said. “But I’m ready to go.”

Celtics Sign Guerschon Yabusele

July 20th, 2017 at 3:48pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Celtics have signed 2016 No. 16 overall pick Guerschon Yabusele, according to the team’s website. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but since Yabusele was drafted within the last three seasons, he’s under the same restrictions as the rest of the rookie class.

Yabusele played last season for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association. After the season concluded, he came stateside to play for the Maine Red Claws, Boston’s G League affiliate. He played in five G League playoff games for the Red Claws, where he averaged 12.8 points per contest while shooting 49.0% from the field.

The French native was considered one of the best international prospects entering the 2016 draft. He played professionally in France for three seasons before declaring for the NBA’s draft.

Eastern Rumors: Nets, Hardaway, Hornets, Celtics

July 7th, 2017 at 11:30am CST by Luke Adams

Before Rudy Gay signed with the Spurs, the Nets expressed interest in the veteran forward, having viewed him as a contingency plan in the event that the Wizards match their offer sheet for Otto Porter, reports Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).

With Gay off the board and Porter likely to be retained by Washington, the Nets will be a “strong contender” for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com. That’s no surprise, now that the 24-year-old is unrestricted, but for Caldwell-Pope to be an option for Brooklyn, his camp may have to be patient, since the Nets’ cap room may be tied up for a few days until the Wizards make their decision on Porter official.

Here’s more from around the East:

Before the Knicks swooped in with a $71MM offer sheet, the Hawks were willing to offer Tim Hardaway Jr. a four-year deal in the $48MM range, league sources tell ESPN’s Zach Lowe. We’ll see if Atlanta is willing to go significantly higher than that to match New York’s offer, or if Hardaway will return to the Knicks.
The Hornets are in the market for another big man, GM Rich Cho said today (Twitter link via Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer). Charlotte is also evaluating whether to sign a third point guard or keep Briante Weber in that role. Weber has a non-guaranteed contract.
Raptors president Masai Ujiri said today that he’s comfortable entering the 2017/18 season as a tax team, but there’s still plenty of time to make moves. He’s waiting for the trade market to open up a little, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN 1050.
The plan for the Celtics has always been to have draft-and-stash prospect Guerschon Yabusele on their roster this fall, a league source tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link). As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), Boston will likely need to waive or trade Jordan Mickey and Demetrius Jackson to retain Yabusele’s cap hold.

Celtics Rumors: Tatum, Jackson, Porzingis, Brown

June 23rd, 2017 at 12:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Following the completion of the Celtics’ trade with the Sixers earlier this week, C’s president Danny Ainge suggested that the player the team drafted at No. 3 would likely be the same player the club would’ve taken at No. 1. Ainge reiterated that point on Thursday night, telling reporters that he felt the draft was “very even” at the top, and would’ve selected Jayson Tatum with the first overall pick (Twitter link).

Josh Jackson was the other prospect considered to be in play for that No. 3 pick, and Ainge admitted that he was upset when the former Kansas forward cancelled his workout with the Celtics. As Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com details, Ainge, Brad Stevens, and Mike Zarren flew out to Sacramento, only to find out that Jackson wouldn’t be working out. Ainge indicated that there may have been something to the idea that Jackson didn’t want to be drafted by Boston.

“Agents and players have all sorts of motivations to get to certain places, as we’ve seen in the past,” Ainge said, per Forsberg. “Remember last year, Kris Dunn didn’t want to come here; we didn’t hold it against him. We felt like we were just taking the player that we wanted [last year]. And I think the same thing this time. I don’t think we were trying to penalize Josh too much, but we didn’t get to see him or talk to him face-to-face.”

Here’s more on the Celtics:

Asked about the Kristaps Porzingis rumors that swirled around the Celtics this week, Ainge said that he felt they were “a little blown out of proportion” (Twitter link via Forsberg).
Ainge suggested there could be “some truth” to the idea that teams ask for more from the Celtics in trades due to the team’s stockpile of assets (link via Scott Souza of The MetroWest Daily News). “People around the league know the things that we have and they are asking for some of our prime real estate,” Ainge said. “Over the last few trading periods it’s been a little bit of a hurdle. But the bottom line is we have to do the trades that we believe in.”
One player Ainge generally isn’t interested in discussing in trade talks is Jaylen Brown. The team president said on CSNNE that Boston gets the urge to “hang up” when Brown’s name comes up in negotiations (Twitter link via Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe).
It’s possible that neither of the Celtics’ draft-and-stash prospects will be on the team’s Summer League roster. Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe tweets that Guerschon Yabusele won’t play due to foot surgery, while Ainge said that Ante Zizic has visa issues, raising doubts about his status (Twitter link via Jay King of MassLive.com).

Atlantic Notes: C. Lee, Celtics, Raptors, Nicholson

June 2nd, 2017 at 6:57pm CST by Luke Adams

A year after signing Courtney Lee to a four-year, $48MM contract, the Knicks are “absolutely open” to the idea of dealing him, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who tweets that the club is “moving in a different direction.” Lee didn’t have a great first season in New York, but he’s still a capable three-point shooter, and his contract isn’t as much of an albatross as some of the other deals signed following 2016’s salary cap spike. He’ll be a player worth keeping an eye on if the Knicks delve into the trade market in the coming weeks.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic division:

Guerschon Yabusele, who was selected with the No. 16 overall selection in the 2016 draft, appears to be on his way to joining the Celtics, Olivia Healy of WEEI writes. Yabusele will miss this year’s summer league as he recovers from surgery, but Healy believes that the French native could find himself in Boston’s rotation next year due to his size and strength.
Gary Tanguay of CSNNE.com makes the case for why the Celtics‘ top – and only – target this summer should be Pelicans big man Anthony Davis, and why Danny Ainge should be willing to deal any pick and/or player to make it happen.
The Raptors find themselves at a crossroads this summer, according to Bobby Marks of The Vertical, who breaks down many of the crucial personnel decisions facing the team, as well as the increasing “cost of being good.”
Andrew Nicholson was a throw-in when the Nets sent Bojan Bogdanovic to Washington at the trade deadline earlier this year. Since Nicholson remains under contract for a few more seasons, Charles Maniego of Nets Daily explores whether Brooklyn can salvage some value out of the former first-round pick.

Chris Crouse contributed to this post.

Eastern Rumors: Griffin, Yabusele, Teodosic, Magic

May 22nd, 2017 at 8:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavaliers did not grant GM David Griffin permission to interview for front office jobs with the Magic and Hawks, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. The Magic were interested in hiring Griffin as President of Basketball Operations and had discussions with him but were not allowed to formally interview him and ultimately decided to hire Raptors GM Jeff Weltman, Windhorst continues. The Hawks are looking for an new GM. Griffin’s contract expires at the end of July and has been negotiating with team owner Dan Gilbert, Windhorst adds.

In other developments around the Eastern Conference:

Celtics forward Amir Johnson is questionable for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals because of a shoulder injury, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe tweets. Johnson played only nine minutes in Game 3. Jonas Jerebko, who scored 10 points in 12 minutes in Boston’s victory at Cleveland, could replace him in the starting lineup, ESPN’s Chris Forsberg tweets.
Celtics first-rounder Guerschon Yabusele recently had surgery to remove bone spurs in both feet and will not be available for summer-league games, a source told Forsberg. The 6’8” draft-and-stash prospect, who was chosen with the No. 16 pick last June, spent much of last season in China before joining the Celtics’ D-League team, the Maine Red Claws, in March. Yabusele appeared in seven D-League games and averaged 12.8 PPG and 5.4 RPG in 27.3 MPG.
The Nets will have stiff competition from the Nuggets and Jazz for the services of Euroleague point guard Milos Teodosic, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. The Nets are among several teams scouting Teodosic, who plays for CSKA Moscow, and he’s their top free-agent priority, Lewis continues. The Nuggets already have a Serbian connection to Teodosic in Nikola Jokic, his national teammate. The Jazz will have a point guard need if George Hill leaves in free agency and coach Quin Snyder is a former CSKA assistant, Lewis adds.
The Magic parted ways with several front office members, including Director of Pro Scouting Harold Ellis, Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders tweets.

Celtics Notes: Ainge, Brogdon, Yabusele

March 30th, 2017 at 10:18pm CST by ChrisCrouse

With Cleveland losing tonight, Boston has reclaimed sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference. Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck is thrilled with how the team is playing and he’s pleased with the direction of the franchise, as A. Sherrod Blakely of Comcast Sportsnet relays. “There’s no reason to put a ceiling on the season,” Grousbeck said. “I think this season already looks good to me. I love our coach. I love our young players. I love our draft picks and our potential cap room [this summer]; all of our fans. So I’m already happy with where the team is going.”

Here’s more from Boston:

The Celtics knew Malcolm Brogdon would be available in the second-round, but chose to pass on him because of the team’s surplus of guards, as GM Danny Ainge tells Comcast Sportsnet. Boston had the No. 31 overall and No. 35 overall picks but traded them to Memphis for a future first-rounder. Milwaukee selected Brogdon with the No. 36 overall pick last June.
No. 16 overall pick Guerschon Yabusele has officially joined the Maine Red Claws, the D-League affiliate of the Celtics, Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com tweets. Yabusele played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association this season. The CBA’s season concludes earlier than the NBA’s, which gives Yabusele a chance to run with Boston’s D-League to close the season.

Celtics Notes: Thomas, Yabusele, Stevens, Ball

March 16th, 2017 at 2:04pm CST by Luke Adams

As the Celtics look to make a push for the top seed in the Eastern Conference, they’ll have to do so this weekend without star point guard Isaiah Thomas. The C’s announced today (via Twitter) that Thomas, who is dealing with a right knee bone bruise, won’t join the club on its road trip to Brooklyn and Philadelphia.

The Celtics are scheduled to play the Nets on Friday and the Sixers on Sunday, so Thomas will miss those two games. It’s not clear if his absence will extend beyond that. Boston has a big game on tap for Monday with the Wizards, who will be looking to gain ground in the standings and win their season series with the C’s, so Thomas is likely aiming to get back on the court for that contest.

Here’s more on the Celtics:

The 16th pick of the 2016 draft, French forward Guerschon Yabusele, has signed a D-League contract and will join the Maine Red Claws, Boston’s NBADL affiliate, tweets Chris Reichert of The Step Back. As we noted on Wednesday, Yabusele has arrived in America following a season with the Shanghai Sharks, and the Celtics will get a chance to take a closer look at him in the D-League down the stretch, as long as his sprained ankle cooperates.
With the NCAA tournament getting underway today, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens was asked about the possibility of colleges attempting to pry him away from Boston. As Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe details, Stevens suggested that NCAA programs know better than to think he’d leave the Celtics anytime soon. “The only thing people usually call me for is to ask questions about candidates,” Stevens said. “Everybody has a pretty good idea of where I stand, and I think ultimately I’m going to be here. I think that’s pretty well known.”
There have been questions recently about whether Lonzo Ball‘s outspoken father, LaVar Ball, would negatively impact the UCLA guard’s draft stock among NBA teams. For his part, Celtics GM Danny Ainge said this week that he would “never hold a player’s family against a player if I like a player,” per A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. The Celtics may be in position this spring to draft a player like Ball, since they’ll have a top-four pick.
For more Celtics news and rumors, be sure to check out their team feed, which includes an item from earlier this week on Yabusele’s fellow 2016 first-rounder, Ante Zizic.

Yabusele Done In China, May Play In D-League

March 15th, 2017 at 8:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Celtics first-round pick Guerschon Yabusele has completed his season in China and could play a few games with the team’s D-League affiliate, relays A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.

The more immediate concern for Boston is evaluating a sprained ankle that he suffered recently. Austin Ainge, director of player personnel, said Yabusele will be evaluated by the Celtics’ medical staff this week and will be sent to the Maine Red Claws if the ankle is OK.

“We’re hoping to get him a few games with the Red Claws,” Ainge said. “Get him some experience in the D-League and Summer League.”

Yabusele, a 6’8″ forward out of France, was the 16th player selected last season. He played 43 games with the Shanghai Sharks, averaging 20.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per night.

“It was a challenge for me, being over there as a young player,” the 21-year-old said. “It was a great experience for me to go over there. I learned a lot about playing basketball, being a pro when you are not in your city. We had a great season. We lost [in the] first round of the playoffs, but I am more [confident] as a player; it was good. My game is better than it was before.”

Yabusele hopes to join the Celtics next season. The team plans to invite him to training camp and give him a chance to earn a place on the roster, but making the team won’t be easy. Ainge said Boston plans to give one spot to Croatian center Ante Zizic, whom the team selected at No. 23 last year. The Celtics have 10 players on their current roster with guaranteed contracts for 2017/18, along with a lottery pick from the Nets. Amir Johnson, Kelly Olynyk, Jonas Jerebko, Gerald Green and James Young will all be free agents.

“I’m really excited about it,” Yabusele said about his chance to play in the NBA. “I’m going to give my all for the team, give my all for the Boston Celtics. I’m ready.”