Looking at what kind of player Guerschon Yabusele is
A big problem with when the Boston Celtics selected Guerschon Yabusele is that many people did not know who he was. Most though he was a late second round pick at the best and according to all the mocks out there, taking Yabusele at 16 was a reach. Yabusele is unlikely to come play in the NBA this season, but he can be one of the most intriguing prospects.
The ideal high end potential that the Celtics see in Yabusele is a player like Draymond Green. An undersized big that finds ways to make up for his height in order to provide rim protection, while being a great three point shooter. The problem is that Yabusele is no where near what Green is on defense, and such a small sample size makes it difficult to gauge how he can translate to the NBA.
All that uncertainty is exactly why the Celtics ant Yabusele to spend more time overseas. At just 20 years old he has plenty of time to develop and there is no sense in having him ride the bench with the Celtics when he needs to get more comfortable on the court.
Defensively, there are a lot of areas where Yabusele struggles. He provided next to no rim protection in France, although his potential comes out on some incredible blocks. If people are taking advantage of Yabusele’s height in France then he will be a great defensive liability in the NBA.
It takes a special kind of athlete and a near perfect defender to be able to play the 5 at 6’8 in the NBA. The Celtics might’ve drafted Yabusele for what he can become on the offensive end, but he will not have the impact the Celtics want out of him unless he drastically improves on the defensive end.
That offensive potential is why the Celtics reached to get Yabusele at 16. The Celtics have desperately been looking for forwards that can stretch the floor, and if you combine that with Yabusele’s explosive ability to finish and great off ball movement, he can easily be the most dangerous offensive option in the Celtics’ front court.
Looking at his highlights and he clearly has the ability to dominate with his offensive impact, the problem is gauging how much better he looks give his competition.
He shot 42% from three point range on 61 shot attempts and if that can translate to the NBA then he can have a very long career with the Celtics. Yabusele will have to work on his play making and find more ways to keep the ball moving, but Brad Stevens has proven that he can get players to adapt that mentality that is key to their success. Even Isaiah Thomas did a great job of distributing more in his second season.
The bottom line is that Yabusele is not ready to play in the NBA, but Danny Ainge has always kept the long term future in mind, and he believes that Yabusele has the potential to develop into a key piece of this team.
Thanks to their incredible guards, the Celtics have not needed their front court to be successful on defense. That takes a lot of pressure off Yabusele who, at times, does a great job of using his length to generate steals. The rim protection is an ideal situation, but Yabusele can be a solid player for the Celtics if he proves that his offensive game can translate to the NBA.
The player that Yabusele is right now is not the player the Celtics are interested in having on their team. Ainge has talking about him spending multiple seasons overseas before coming to the NBA because he has yet to prove that he can play at the highest level.
Yabusele’s intrigue is that he can become that ideal stretch five for small ball lineups. Even though the Warriors couldn’t get it done with the small ball death lineup, a lot of teams are going to be using smaller lineups, and the Celtics have already shown thats exactly what they like to do.
The Celtics need offensive difference makers on their team and that is what they believe Yabusele can become. Especially in their front court, they don’t have any player that has shown signs of being capable of carrying an offense. Yabusele may not have the distributing, but he can be the most dynamic finisher on the team.
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The potential weight issues may also be concerning and that will certainly be a factor in when the Celtics decide to bring Yabusele over to the NBA. Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens are not going to rush anything with Yabusele, and they are going to make sure that he is put in the best possible position to develop into the player that they believe he can be.