Boston Celtics Mailbag: Is Kyrie Irving Sacrificing Shots for the Good of the Team?

October 30th is the deadline for NBA teams, including the Boston Celtics, to pick up their team options on rookie contracts for 2019-20.

General Manager Danny Ainge has no-brainer decisions to exercise the option on both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, but second-year forward Guerschon Yabusele is a different story.

Yabusele simply hasn’t shown a skill that stands out amongst NBA players. In limited action against bench players, his defense has been pretty impressive, but at this point, his offensive game is non-existent.

In the G-League, Yabusele can either overpower or speed past his defender, depending on the matchup. But against NBA bigs that either match or exceed his athleticism, he hasn’t figured out a way to score. Yabusele’s three-point shooting is theoretical at this point, and, as a ground-bound big, he gets his shot blocked a lot in the paint.

Yabusele’s team option is only for $3.1 million, but I expect the Celtics to value the roster flexibility and slim savings over locking in the French forward for another season. The 6-foot-8 forward still has youth on his side, but Boston’s depth and status as a likely luxury tax payer next season should keep them from picking up the option.

Either way, we’ll have our answers shortly on that front. The answers to our most burning questions, however, will have to wait to be answered by playoff basketball.