The 2024-25 season was supposed to be big one for the Philadelphia 76ers. After adding 9-time All-Star Paul George to the roster and forming a star trio of George, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey, the Sixers were expected to contend for a title.
Instead, injuries decimated the roster. George played only 41 games. Embiid only played 19. Maxey played 52. Those three stars played 18 games together–finishing only 15 of them. First-round pick Jared McCain was limited to only 23 games after a meniscus tear in his left knee. It was a nightmare season for Philadelphia.
Guerschon Yabusele, a real find for the Sixers, played 70 games and averaged 11.0 points and 45.6 rebounds for Philadelphia. Unfortunately, the Sixers lost him in free agency as he signed with the rival New York Knicks.
On the most recent episode of “The Roommates Show”, Yabusele opened up on why he believes things went wrong for the Sixers. He acknowledged the injuries, but there was one factor that he believes messed them up a bit:
I feel like we tried. Then what really changed the team a little bit was, in my opinion, was the trades. I feel like we was there. Guys was just injured. We should have trusted a little bit more that, and try to let the guys come back to be able to pursue, try to get to the playoffs, and then I feel like when we changed that, basically we changed, you know, four guys or something like that, and then it’s like four new guys coming up. Then it was a lot of guys that keep getting signed for 10-day contracts here and there. So it was hard to find the chemistry with the teammates, but other than that, I would say we tried, or at least I tried to give my best and everything every night to make sure that we still got to show the positive signs. I was not hurt. So it’s no way that I come out there and then be sloppy. I just feel like it was just my mentality going to every game.
Yabusele will look to give the Knicks a boost off the bench with his ability to put the ball in the basket down low or from the perimeter. He also plays with a ton of energy night in and night out so the Sixers will miss that high motor while New York will benefit from it.