Celtics announce signing of Guerschon Yabusele

The Boston Celtics announced the signing of 2016 draft pick Guerschon Yabusele today. The team used the 16th overall selection a year ago to secure Yabusele’s draft rights, but opted to have him play overseas, in China, before adding him to the team.

The exact terms of the deal were not released, but Yabusele’s first-round selection means his contract will be tied to the rookie scale, and ensures at least two years of fully guaranteed money, which bodes well for his future.

Yabusele, who played in France prior to his time abroad, is something of a mystery. He’s got shocking dexterity and explosiveness for his size (6’8” 260 pounds), and has shown flashes of impressive shooting ability. It’s unclear if his game is ready to translate at the NBA level just yet, but in signing him the Celtics appear to have confidence that it’s at least close. They’ve also filled their roster beyond its limits.

This morning, Boston signed Shane Larkin and Daniel Theis to one and two year deals respectively. With all three of the days additions, the total number of players they have fully guaranteed money to up to sixteen, one more than they can enter regular season play with.

That’s not ideal from a financial perspective. Paying money to a player that winds up getting cut in training camp is never a particularly palatable experience. Such might be the cost of fostering a robust competition for the final spots on the bench though.

Boston’s hope is undoubtedly that several of the players they’ve added on smaller deals will outplay their contracts, which would go a long way in stomaching the cost associated with whomever doesn’t make the team.

There is, of course, also the possibility of a future trade. It’s best not to speculate on that notion until more signs of such a possibility arise. For now, the Celtics are just a team with one too many interesting players. That’s a good problem to have.