Was letting Guerschon Yabusele go a mistake? It isn’t the first time the Sixers let a key reserve go.

Maybe Daryl Morey has a method to his perceived lowball-offer madness.

We will find out in several months if the 76ers president of basketball operations will regret prioritizing re-signing restricted free agent Quentin Grimes over retaining Guerschon Yabusele.

After receiving a “really, really low” offer from the Sixers, Yabusele took a two-year, $12 million contract with the New York Knicks. The deal includes a player option for the second season, with New York using the taxpayer mid-level exception to acquire him.

» READ MORE: Guerschon Yabusele: No ‘hard feelings’ toward Sixers, but they made a ‘really, really low’ offer

The Sixers could have offered the same deal to Yabusele. They, however, wanted to remain flexible while figuring out what Grimes commands in free agency. And that has led to outrage among Sixers fans.

This isn’t the first time a key reserve left in free agency after the Sixers presented him with a low offer. It happened two summers ago with Georges Niang and Jalen McDaniels. As time wore on, it was clear that Morey was justified for making offers he knew they would probably refuse. But in the moment, the decisions were mind-boggling to some.

In regards to McDaniels, it was mind-boggling partly because of the way Morey hyped up his acquisition from the Charlotte Hornets in a Feb. 9, 2023, four-team trade that sent Matisse Thybulle to the Portland Trail Blazers.

“A big theme of our season this year was to prepare for the playoffs, and win a championship as you guys know,” Morey said at the time. “We wanted to make sure we gave [coach Doc Rivers] as many two-way players as possible.

“And we think Jalen is one of the up-and-coming solid defenders, somebody that’s a little easier to keep on the floor in a lot of matchups.”

The Sixers were elated to have that luxury with McDaniels, someone they said they were interested in signing in free agency that summer.

The 6-foot-9, 205-pound small forward averaged 6.7 points and 3.2 rebounds while shooting 40% on three-pointers in 24 regular-season games — including three starts — as a Sixer. He showed why they went after him with the ability to shine on both ends of the floor.

» READ MORE: The Sixers will soon find out if prioritizing Quentin Grimes over Guerschon Yabusele was the right move

However, he played sparingly in their second-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics. McDaniels did not play in Games 4, 5, 7, and only played 36 seconds in Game 6 of that series.

On July 6, 2023, he signed a two-year, $9.2 million contract with the Toronto Raptors.

“I don’t even know what happened,” McDaniels said before the Raptors faced the Sixers on Oct. 28, 2023. “I thought I was [coming back]. I guess it was a better opportunity. A team wanted me, gave me money, stuff like that I guess you could say, so I had to take it.”

What was the Sixers’ offer?

“It was just like a minimum-type thing,” he said. “Yeah, I couldn’t do that, you know?”

But McDaniels never found his footing in Toronto and was traded to the Sacramento Kings on June 28, 2024. The Kings, in turn, traded him on Oct. 15, 2024 to the San Antonio Spurs, who waived him a day later.

McDaniels’ only taste of the NBA last season came on a 10-day contract he signed with the Washington Wizards on Feb. 22.

Like in the case of McDaniels, sources say the Sixers offered Niang a minimum deal during the 2023 free-agency period.

That came after he established himself as a key role player during his two seasons with the team. He averaged 8.7 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists while shooting 40.2% on three-pointers in 154 games.

Niang opted to sign a three-year, $25.5 million deal to play for the ascending Cleveland Cavaliers on July 6, 2023. Offensively, he provided a spark for the Cavaliers. But like with the Sixers, he was a defensive liability for a Cleveland team with championship aspirations.

So, in need of a defensive upgrade, Niang was traded along with Caris LeVert to the Atlanta Hawks for De’Andre Hunter on Feb. 6. His stint in Atlanta was short-lived. The Hawks agreed to trade the power forward to his hometown Boston Celtics on June 25.

» READ MORE: Trendon Watford signs his two-year deal with Sixers: ‘He is a valued addition’

As well-liked and energetic as Niang is, teams seek him out on defense. That makes it hard to give him extended minutes in the postseason. Knowing that, probably led to the Sixers’ refusal to make a substantial financial investment in him.

That brings us to Yabusele’s deal with the Knicks.

“I didn’t have any hard feelings or hard time,” he said of the Sixers in an interview with SKWEEK TV, a streaming platform focused on European basketball. “But they almost didn’t make really like an offer. They did, but it was really, really low, to be really transparent. So it was, I felt like, ‘Oh my god, you guys, it seems like you don’t really want me to stay, kind of.’ So it was a situation.”

Yabusele was the perfect reserve big man for the Sixers.

The 6-7, 280-pounder can play power forward and center. He’s a spot-up shooter who plays with physicality, toughness, athleticism.

His departure could hurt the Sixers, considering Joel Embiid’s health concerns.

» READ MORE: Sixers agree to a two-way deal with forward Jabari Walker

Like in the case of McDaniels and Niang, they had to know Yabusele wouldn’t accept their offer.

Did the Sixers make a major mistake? Or does Yabusele have flaws they identified that prevent him from being a key contributor on an NBA championship contending team?