Should Celtics pursue Yabusele deal with Sixers at trade deadline? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Celtics’ options are limited if they want to make a deal before next Thursday’s 2025 NBA trade deadline.
But they do have some options, and they’ve been connected to at least one familiar face.
The Celtics are among “several teams” that have expressed interest in Philadelphia 76ers forward Guerschon Yabusele, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, who reports the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets also have Yabusele on their radar.
Yabusele began his career in Boston as the 16th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. After spending a year overseas, the French big man played in 74 games for the Celtics between the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, averaging just 2.3 points per game as a fringe role player.
Yabusele revived his professional career in Europe, however, averaging double figures for Real Madrid over three seasons from 2021 to 2024. His breakout came during the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he averaged 14.0 points per game for Team France — second on the club behind only Victor Wembanyama — while helping them advance to the gold medal game against Team USA.
The Sixers signed Yabusele to a one-year, $2 million contract shortly after the Olympics, and the 29-year-old has been a solid contributor for Philly; with Joel Embiid sidelined for much of the 2024-25 season to date, Yabusele is averaging 10.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while hitting 39.3 percent of his 3-pointers.
Outside the obvious sentimental reasons — Yabusele expressed his interest in returning to the Celtics before signing with Philly — makes basketball sense for Boston.
C’s big man Xavier Tillman has played sparingly this season — 7.3 minutes per game in 26 games — and is making $2.2 million this season, so perhaps president of basketball operations Brad Stevens would consider a Tillman-Yabusele swap while sending an additional second-round pick to Philly.
Boston doesn’t have many other options outside a Tillman-for-Yabusele deal; the Sixers just dealt Jaden Springer to the Celtics last season, and while Neemias Queta’s salary matches Yabusele’s, he’s under contract through 2027 and wouldn’t make sense to trade.
But if Philly has interest in Tillman and/or Celtics draft assets, Stevens absolutely should pick up the phone to arrange a homecoming for the former Celtics fan favorite.
