Knicks head coach Mike Brown acknowledged on Tuesday that backup big man Guerschon Yabusele may simply not have enough opportunity to find his rhythm in a deep frontcourt rotation.
“I think everybody is still learning,” Brown said, referencing Yabusele ahead of tipoff against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday. “At the end of the day, there’s only so many minutes. I’m not sure it’s all quote-unquote his fault.”
The Knicks used the mid-level exception — their largest available mechanism to add free agents — to sign Yabusele to a two-year deal worth more than $10 million this past offseason.
Yet the French forward, who joined New York after a one-year stint with the Philadelphia 76ers, has struggled to establish a foothold in Brown’s rotation. His minutes have been sporadic and his production minimal: Yabusele shot 1-of-6 from the floor for five points and two rebounds in 10 minutes during Sunday’s blowout win over Brooklyn. Through eight games, he’s averaging 2.4 points and 2.6 rebounds on just 25% shooting from the field and 22.5% from three in roughly 11 minutes per game — the 10th man in the pecking order.
“It’s the circumstance sometimes. I put him in, take him out. It’s a little hard to get a rhythm doing that. I’ve got to take some blame in that as well,” Brown said Tuesday. “And I think over time, because he’s a really good basketball player, he’ll show it. He needs some minutes to show it, and I don’t know if those are always there for him.”
Yabusele’s situation looms larger against the backdrop of shifting dynamics around the league, where several Western Conference teams once expected to contend are instead trending toward early-season sell-offs.
The Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, and Sacramento Kings have each stumbled out of the gate, failing to reach the five-win mark despite high expectations. Dallas, for instance, fired general manager Nico Harrison on Tuesday after the Luka Dončić–Anthony Davis experiment derailed into another injury-riddled disappointment. Sacramento, meanwhile, appears headed toward a full-scale rebuild following last year’s De’Aaron Fox trade to San Antonio, while Memphis continues to navigate the ongoing turmoil surrounding Ja Morant, who has clashed with the coaching staff and recently admitted he’s “lost his joy” for the game — echoing Jimmy Butler’s comments before his own eventual exit from Miami.
The Knicks, of course, are short on the kind of first-round assets typically required to pounce when rebuilding teams begin to sell. Their cupboard is lighter after sending five first-round picks to Brooklyn in the Mikal Bridges deal, but they still hold Washington’s top-eight protected 2026 first-rounder (likely to convert into two favorable second-rounders) and six additional second-round picks to work with if the right opportunity arises.
Their flexibility, however, is capped. The Knicks cannot take back more salary than they send out in a trade, which makes Yabusele’s $5.5 million salary — the seventh-highest on the roster — a potential pivot point as front-office decision-makers weigh the balance between rotational depth and roster value.
Yabusele told the Daily News he’s fine with his current role as he continues to learn the new system.
“I’m just trying to come out here and learn and fit perfect so I can try to help the team,” he said on Nov. 3. “Just over there trying to be aware when I’m out there on the court — or even if I’m out there on the bench — about what the team is doing and trying to find a way to impact the game and the team in a positive way.”
Brown’s stance hasn’t changed. He will continue to do what’s best for the team, even if that means New York’s biggest offseason signing remains a situational rotation player.
“He may play a whole bunch of minutes at times, he may play a few. He may not play at all,” Brown said after the Knicks’ skid stretched to three games following their loss in Chicago. “And that’s part of what our guys have to accept until we can figure out what we’re gonna do.”
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