what do you do with Yabu, decline his option and look to resign him for cheaper?
— Usman Garuba (@CfbhoopsA) October 29, 2018
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.
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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.