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' Guerschon Yabusele Slumping to Start Season

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Oct 27, 2025 2:25 PM ET

The New York Knicks have enjoyed some stable carryover from last season's key contributors. Their center rotation remains in flux with Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson each dealing with their respective lower-leg injuries, but new coach Mike Brown and lead option Jalen Brunson continue to lead a well-rounded starting lineup of scorers through three games.

The complementary help the team signed over the offseason, however, has failed to live up to early expectations. Jordan Clarkson has been shooting an inefficient 26.1% from the field, but the streaky shooter has escaped plenty of hairy shooting dips over his 11 full seasons of bucket-generation.

Fellow free agent Guerschon Yabusele's own statistical regression has been much more noteworthy. He was the biggest outside asset that New York rounded up, having rounded Clarkson up on the buyout market while having to engage in a bidding war for the Frenchman, but he's struggled mightily in finding the net's bottom through the season's first week.

New York Knicks Forward Guerschon Yabusele Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

He attracted plenty of interest following last year's spirited NBA comeback, having returned to the league he was once drafted after a five-year absence with a much-improved jump shot. The girthy forward was a bright spot on last season's injured Philadelphia 76ers, offering 11 points per game in a multitude of roles and proving worthy of rotational role on a good team.

Guerschon Yabusele Fails to Produce for Knicks

This fall, though, nothing seems to be falling. Nowhere was this more evident than in the Knicks' first loss of the season when they came up short against the Heat in the Miami, where he shot a measly 1/6 from the field and 0/4 from 3-point distance. He was extremely effective as a floor-spacer last year, shooting 38% from distance on some real volume, but Yabusele's looked uncomfortable despite the space his team's generating for his looks.

He frequently found himself all alone on the weakside or alone at the top of the key, and though he's still firing when open, he's clanking on those near-guaranteed open makes that the Knicks signed him for. The forward's tried getting himself going by proving his willingness to keep shooting, but that's only resulted in rushed-looking attempts and even more misses.

Now, we're only left with an extremely small sample size to analyze, and Yabusele's Sixers stint proved that he's capable of getting his game off in a variety of different situations. He'll remain a fixture in Brown's rotations upon Towns' return, but the Knicks would appreciate his touch returning sooner rather than later as they continue looking to stack early wins.

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

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