Sources: Yabusele joining 76ers after Olympic run

The Philadelphia 76ers have agreed to a one-year, $2.1 million deal with forward Guerschon Yabusele, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Sunday, after the former Boston Celtics first-round pick played a big role in France’s run to the silver medal at the Olympics earlier this month.

Yabusele, a bruising 6-foot-8, 260-pound power forward, has a chance to step into the rotation on a 76ers team that made one of the biggest moves of the summer in signing Paul George to a four-year max contract. While the 76ers also retained Kelly Oubre and Kyle Lowry as free agents and signed Caleb Martin, Andre Drummond and Eric Gordon, they are light on options at power forward behind Martin — the presumed starter — which gives Yabusele a chance at earning a spot in coach Nick Nurse’s rotation.

Yabusele, 28, was a breakout star in France’s run to the Olympic gold medal game, scoring 22, 17 and 20 points against Canada, Germany and the United States, respectively. Across those three games, Yabusele shot a blistering 16-for-24 (66.7%) from 3-point range and 20-for-34 (58.9%) overall.

The 16th overall pick by the Celtics in the 2016 NBA draft, Yabusele played sparingly across two seasons in Boston before being waived in the summer of 2019. After playing a season in China, he spent parts of two seasons at ASVEL in France — a team owned by Hall of Famer Tony Parker — before signing with Real Madrid in the summer of 2021.

Yabusele spent the past three years with the Spanish giants, helping them win the EuroLeague title in 2023 and make the competition’s final four each season. This past season, he averaged 9.6 points and shot 43% from 3-point range on 2.6 attempts per game.