The Sixers’ draft-day approach could determine whether they can afford Guerschon Yabusele

Guerschon Yabusele will pay close attention to the 76ers’ moves during the NBA draft.

The team’s soon-to-be unrestricted free agent realizes that could affect where he signs this summer — and, more specifically, whether he returns to Philadelphia.

“I know the Sixers are going to look [to] change some pieces in the roster,” Yabusele recently told HoopsHype at the adidas Eurocamp in Italy. “So you have to wait also to see what’s going to happen. But the draft’s going to set pretty much everything for every team to know where they’re going with the trades and stuff like that.

“I guess we’ll see soon, but I’m pretty excited.”

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The 29-year-old is excited because this will be his first experience as a sought-after NBA free agent.

Teams can negotiate with their own free agents the day after the NBA Finals conclude. Those negotiations should give them an idea of which players they can retain heading into the June 25-26 NBA draft. Then, beginning at 6 p.m. on June 30, squads can negotiate with free agents from other teams. However, free agents cannot sign their contracts until 12:01 p.m. on July 6.

“I’m pretty excited just to hear the offers, to see what’s going on, to see the movement,” Yabusele told HoopsHype. “This summer is going to have a lot of movement on every team. So to be able to be part of that is just amazing.”

The power forward/center signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract of $2.1 million with the Sixers in August after reaching a contract buyout with Spanish team Real Madrid. The buyout clause reportedly was $2.5 million. NBA rules allowed the Sixers to contribute up to $850,000. As a result, Yabusele had to settle the remaining cost.

Despite the hefty price, Yabusele was determined to get another opportunity to play in the NBA. And the Frenchman made the most of it.

The 6-foot-7, 280-pounder averaged career highs of 11 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 27.1 minutes and shot a career-best 38.0% on three-pointers. He made 43 starts in 70 games. That’s a far cry from his experience as a Boston Celtic for two seasons from 2017 to 2019. Yabusele averaged 2.3 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.4 assists in 74 games with the Celtics, including just 6.6 minutes and five starts.

“Now that I’ve been on the team where I played — and a lot of minutes, too — I want to be in a situation where I can play, too,” Yabusele said about what he’s looking in free agency. “I’m not asking to play 40 minutes a game. That would be crazy. But just to be in the right situation for me, for the team, having a goal that we can achieve and have a bunch of guys looking in the right direction.

“And if it’s with the 76ers, I’ll be more than happy. This has been a great, great season and time for me. The fans have been showing me nothing but love, even the organization. If I have to go back there, I’d be more than happy. And then if you’ve got to be somewhere else, I’d be happy, too. I just want to be on a team where we compete and we have the same goals.”

Things could get complicated for the Sixers if they attempt to re-sign him partially because they don’t have his Bird rights due to being on a one-year minimum deal. They can offer him only a limited salary raise — typically 120% of his previous season’s salary — unless they use a mid-level exception.

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The limited raise wouldn’t be enough to retain Yabusele, given how well he performed this season. When it comes to mid-level exceptions, the Sixers will have options. But it could become costly.

The Sixers already have $149.1 million in guaranteed salary allocated to Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain next season while the projected salary cap is $154.6 million.

The Sixers could use their $14.1 million, non-taxpayer mid-level exception to re-sign Yabusele. But that would hard-cap them at the first apron, which would limit their ability to make certain roster moves. As a result, they couldn’t exceed that threshold for the entire 2025-26 league year.

The Sixers would be hard-capped at the second apron — instead of the first — if Yabusele settled for a $5.7 million taxpayer mid-level exception.

Depending on how much Quentin Grimes demands as a restricted free agent, the Sixers could have a tough time keeping Grimes, Yabusele, and Kelly Oubre Jr. in addition to their No. 3 pick in the draft. Oubre intends to opt into his $8.3 million player option for next season before the June 29 deadline. In that scenario, the Sixers could opt to trade down in the draft to lower the salary-cap hold of their first-round pick.

Yabusele will pay close attention to how these scenarios pan out. He’ll also keep track of the players the Sixers and other suitors add during the draft and via trades. While he addressed playing time directly, it’s also likely that the right financial situation will be important to Yabusele.

But wherever Yabusele lands, he wants to be impactful.

“Watching the playoffs, you watch those guys having fun — you always look — I want to be there,” he said. “My competitor side is really pushing me to work hard this summer, try to get everything that I can to come back next season, and crush it even more.”