3 NBA teams that should take another look at Guerschon Yabusele

This Olympic basketball tournament has mostly been a coronation for the brightest NBA stars in the field, but there are a few non-NBA players who made a statement. Among those, Guerschon Yabusele's may have been the loudest.

The former No. 16 pick of the Boston Celtics played just 74 games over two seasons before he was waived in 2019 and returned to Europe. Since then, he's become a key piece for powerhouse Real Madrid, blossomed as a versatile frontcourt scorer and shone brightly here at the Olympics. On a French roster loaded with current and former NBA players, Yabusele has been the second-leading scorer, averaging 12.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game, shooting 55.2 percent from the field.

Yabusele is a bruising 6-foot-6 forward with incredibly quick feet and an increasingly polished bag of offensive tricks. He would be a bit undersized for his position in the NBA but could more than makeup for it with athleticism and skill. He was already on the radar as one of the best free agents in Europe that an NBA team could add this offseason and he's already joked at these games about wanting to play for the Celtics again.

He may be comfortable in Spain and would almost certainly have to take a pay cut and a smaller role to return to the NBA. But some of the best teams in the league could and should absolutely take a run at signing him.

3. Miami Heat

Bam Adebayo is going to get an up-close look at Yabusele during the gold medal game, and one would imagine he'll like what he says. Adebayo and Yabusele would make an undersized frontcourt in terms of height but they'd more than make up for it with their activity level, mobility and versatile skill set.

Jaime Jaquez may be the starting 4 for the Heat next season, although there will be minutes available there for Jimmy Butler, Haywood Highsmith, Nikola Jovic, Duncan Robinson and even Adebayo as rookie center Kel'el Ware gets reps. But Yabusele is a perfect addition to that mix given his versatile offensive skills and the way he can impact a game with energy, aggression and physicality.

He's a versatile 4 who can attack bigger players off the dribble, post-up smaller ones, space the floor and keep the ball moving on offense. He's not going to be an NBA star but he's the kind of versatile, do-everything swingman who has thrived in Miami in the past. And as far as making him a compelling pitch, the Heat could theoretically even offer him a starting role, something no other playoff team could realistically put on the table.

2. Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers did very little to add talent to their roster this offseason and bringing in another experienced player who could fill multiple roles and help with scoring and secondary creation would be a huge boon. They might prefer those contributions to come from a new backcourt contributor, especially with LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and rookie Dalton Knecht slotted for a minutes at the two forward spots. But Yabusele is too interesting to overlook.

Yabusele is at least as accomplished a floor space as Hachimura but a much more effective face-up threat, transition scorer and post-up weapon against smaller players. (Or even larger ones — watch him power through NBA big Daniel Theis here).

Defending 3s full-time may be a lot to ask from Yabusele which could limit how much he's able to play next to LeBron. But he can also work as a small ball 5 and take some of the backup minutes behind Anthony Davis, providing a lot more on offense than Christian Wood or Jaxson Hayes.

In the end, it may be that Yabusele is just not what the Lakers need. But, with LeBron and championship aspirations, they can make as compelling a pitch as any team in the NBA and at this point any addition of talent, regardless of position, would be a bonus.

1. Golden State Warriors

The Warriors already have a lot of options at the 4 — Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson, Jonathan Kumings — but none of them are without warts and all have the flexibility to play another position, either on the wing or as the long big, in the case of Green.

Yabusele would give them a very intriguing change of pace. He's might not have the height but his strength and activity level would be a big boost on the glass and he has enough experience playing as a small ball 5 with Real Madrid that he could work in a variety of lineups.

He's not a game-changer on the defensive end but his bulk could be useful and he does have a knack for forcing turnovers. But the big benefit would be on offense where he would be an ideal fit. Yabusele has become very good in the short-roll and playing in 4-3 situations, the same thing Green has exceled with coming out of pick-and-rolls with Curry. He's also a very good face-up scorer against slower bigs and has developed into a very reliable floor spacer, hitting 44.8 percent of his 3s across all competitions in three seasons in Spain.

The Warriors may not be able to offer him enough money or a large enough role but he's a perfect fit for the way they like to play and he'd absolutely give them things that no other player in the rotation can replicate.