New York Knicks News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Oct 17, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks forward Guerschon Yabusele (28) shoots the ball during the second half against the Charlotte Hornets at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Knicks Face Criticism for Guerschon Yabusele Usage

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Nov 20, 2025 7:00 AM ET

For the sort of early health-related hurdles the New York Knicks have already had to jump, they've largely squeezed about as much as they could have out of whichever of their rotational pieces have been available on a night-to-night basis.

For as impactful as Mitchell Robinson is as a rim-protector and offensive rebounder, the Knicks had to be ready for when he inevitably missed a slew of games to start the season. Despite his far-from-perfect attendance record, the team's still posting elite numbers as an interior defense. And even when Jalen Brunson was out tending to his own injuries before returning against the Dallas Mavericks, the squad scored by committee without skipping a beat.

If there's been one squeaky wheel to the Knicks' strong start to the season, though, it's come out of an unlikely source. Guerschon Yabusele was the team's big get out of this summer's free agency class, but the shooting forward has failed to translate any of the meteoric success he'd just enjoyed in his one-and-done stint with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Where's Yabusele Let Down?

It may have been unfair for the masses to add too many expectations onto Yabusele's plate after an immediately-inspiring season in the NBA after years away from the league, but his early fall-off has been troubling despite occasional positive results.

New York Knicks Forward Guerschon Yabusele Lucas Boland-Imagn Images

His 31.6% field goal shooting and 25.9% long-range marksmanship have slipped considerably compared to 50.1%/38% splits a season ago in a similarly-undefined role, and his 2.6 points are nearly double-digits down from what he'd consistently posted in Philadelphia's unstable situation.

The Knicks are already catching some backlash for failing to account for Yabusele's having to be constrained to a specific niche on a team with a more distinct hierarchy, with Bleacher Report naming their misuse of Yabusele as their biggest offseason mistake through the first month of games.

"It was smart to value depth, but New York maybe should have factored its needs more into the equation," Zach Buckley wrote. "Because when the Knicks have a healthy Mitchell Robinson, they don't really need anyone else behind Karl-Anthony Towns.

"Granted, Robinson rarely stays healthy for long, so you get why they wanted some insurance, but this was a costly plan. New York used its mid-level exception, the largest mechanism at its disposal in free agency, to add Yabusele, who is struggling to find minutes and hasn't done much with the little floor time he's received."

New York Knicks Centers Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Searching For Minutes that May Not Exist

Yabusele was envisioned as a seamless Towns understudy, another shooting big who can float between positions. But he was, after all, coming straight off of a season in which he averaged 27 minutes per game in 70 appearances, including 43 as a starter. Not only is a sudden bench move a big change, but he's not even cracking 10 minutes per contest despite maintaining good health.

There's still time to iron out the details, but it'll be tough for him to play alongside both Robinson and Towns as yet another poor defending forward. Even if his shot comes back to him, which remains in the cards as he settles into a new niche, he likely won't match last season's production purely from an lack of available opportunities.

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: