Knicks free-agent signing reveals why he left 76ers for New York

Yabusele had been linked to the Nuggets, Spurs, and Bucks before ultimately agreeing to a two-year, $11.7M deal with New York. Speaking during an interview with SKWEEK TV about his decision-making process, Yabusele said part of the appeal came from what he saw when he faced the Knicks last season as a member of the Sixers.

“It’s a couple of teams that we play against, and I was looking at them, like, ‘Oh my God, this team plays good together. They’re a good team. I can tell it’s a good group of guys, there’s no bad guys, there’s no problems,'” Yabusele said. “And I was looking at them like, ‘Oh my God, this could be like a good chance and opportunity to play there.'”

Beyond the cohesiveness, Yabusele spoke about feeling that the fit was the right one.

“I feel like their team, it really [matches] my DNA, I would say, to fight, to play hard, to be the underdogs, to go and fight every night,” he added.

Yabusele came to Philadelphia last season after spending the previous five years in Europe. Playing for the injury-riddled Sixers, he averaged 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while making 50.1% of his shots from the field (38.0% of his three-pointers) and starting 43 of his 70 outings.

The 6-foot-8 forward proved to be a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing season and was open to returning to the 76ersrs. However, he revealed in his SKWEEK TV interview that the offer he received from Philadelphia wasn’t as competitive as what he might have expected.

“I didn’t really have any issues over there… I was like, ‘Okay, if they want to re-sign me, and then they give me something good, I will come back for sure. And if they want me to leave, then I will leave,'” Yabusele said. “But they almost didn’t make, really, like an offer. They did, but it was really, really, low, to be really transparent… so I feel like, ‘Oh my god, you guys don’t really want me to stay.'”

The Sixers, who only held Non-Bird rights on Yabusele, could theoretically have dipped into their mid-level exception like New York did to make him an offer. However, their ability to re-sign the Frenchman was impacted by their negotiations with restricted free agent Quentin Grimes — if Grimes gets a significant raise, Philadelphia’s team salary could be in second-apron territory, compromising their ability to use any portion of that MLE.

Despite what he considered to be a low-ball offer, Yabusele emphasized his gratitude to the Sixers for giving him his second chance at playing in the NBA.

“I will always be thankful to be able to be part of their franchise,” he said. “Me and my family [are] really happy about everything they did for us.”

Yabusele will now go to a Knicks team with a new head coach and championship aspirations, where his versatile offensive game should complement New York’s incumbent big men.