Guerschon Yabusele was one of the few things that went right for the Sixers last season

Signed to a minimum deal late last summer, Guerschon Yabusele exceeded all reasonable expectations in his year in Philadelphia.

Guerschon Yabusele re-entered many NBA fans’ lives last summer when he dunked on LeBron James in the gold medal game of the Paris Olympics. Let’s watch it again, just because it’s a sweet play.

More than that dunk, though, Yabusele was excellent for France in that contest, collecting 20 points and a pair of steals to almost help his country pull off that upset. So when Daryl Morey signed him later that month on a minimum contract, it was immediately heralded as a terrific move. There was very little risk in handing out a one-year, minimum deal. Yabusele was just 28 years old at the time with a former NBA first-round pick pedigree and had shown marked improvement in his game overseas. The upside was clear and the hope was Morey had potentially landed a rotation player at an end-of-the-roster price tag.

Yet, still, Yabusele exceeded any reasonable expectation in his season in Philadelphia. It’s probably a three-way battle between he, Jared McCain and Quentin Grimes for most joy brought to the Sixers during a largely miserable season. Yabusele appeared in 70 games for Philadelphia (second-most on the team behind Ricky Council IV), averaging 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists. He even made 43 starts, often pressed into duty as the starting center with Joel Embiid’s career moving into an uncertain territory and Andre Drummond’s toe seemingly atrophying. The biggest question mark was whether his improvement as an outside shooter while overseas would translate back to NBA play, and Guerschon passed that test with flying colors, shooting 38.0 percent from three on 3.9 attempts per game.

Through it all, Yabusele was simply a joy to watch. He unleashed plenty of dunks reminiscent of that LeBron posterization, hustled like a madman after loose balls, and generally played hard-nosed and effective defense. Through it all, it just looked he was really giving his all, which wasn’t the case for everyone during a Sixers season that disintegrated into nothingness like half the universe in a Marvel movie.

Now, we worry about whether the Sixers will be able to keep Yabusele in free agency. Nearly every team would love to have a big man who shoots an above average percentage from behind the arc, is tenacious on the glass, and can switch between a few different positions. Guerschon should really be playing the four, as rim protection for Sixers lineups with him at center was rough, but he certainly offers at least the change-up of a five-out lineup in certain matchups. Yabusele will be commandering a pay raise from his minimum deal last summer, and the Sixers will have to hope they can bring him back using a salary cap exception of some sort.

They do have a couple things working for them when considering a reunion. First, very few teams have cap space where they could blow a Sixers’ deal out of the water. But also, Guerschon seemed to really enjoy his time in Philadelphia. You may remember him embracing the Eagles’ run to a Super Bowl victory.

It’s good that he saw how the fan base can get behind a team here when times are good, and Yabusele’s relationship with Sixers supporters appeared great throughout the season. I don’t know exactly how things will shake out in free agency, but the Sixers at least seem well-positioned to reunite with the Dancing Bear, which would be a nice step towards pulling this franchise out of its current nosedive.

Player Grade: A