The writing is on the wall regarding Guerschon Yabusele’s future in Philadelphia

The writing may already be on the wall when it comes to forward Guerschon Yabusele's future with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Yabusele was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise forgettable 2024-25 campaign for the Sixers. Daryl Morey and the rest of Philadelphia's front office did an excellent job of identifying Yabusele as a legitimate rotation piece and bringing him back to the NBA after a half-decade of international play, and to his credit, Yabusele made the most out of the opportunity.

While oscillating between both forward positions and the center spot depending on what was needed from him, Yabusele appeared in 70 games for the Sixers last season and averaged 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 27.1 minutes per performance. All of those numbers represented career highs.

The French forward boosted his own stock with his productive play, and now he'll hit free agency this summer, where he's likely to have several suitors. Unfortunately for Philadelphia, the outside interest may make it difficult for them to bring him back.

Morey has made it clear that the team would like to retain Yabusele.

"We really like his fit going forward, so we would like to retain him," Morey said of Yabusele after the season . "Obviously, he’s an unrestricted free agent, so it’s not for sure whenever that happens, but we would like to retain him."

The problem for Philly is their lack of salary cap space. With the vast majority of their cap space tied up in the trio of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George, they have little room to spend elsewhere, especially if they plan to bring back Quentin Grimes, which seems to be the priority.

Prior to the addition of Grimes at the trade deadline, retaining Yabu might have been considered a top offseason priority, but Grimes is a better fit for Philly. He's four years younger, and projects as an ideal complement alongside Maxey and Jared McCain moving forward. If the Sixers could keep both Grimes and Yabusele, they likely would, but that is unlikely.

The team could technically use the full $14.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception to retain Yabusele, but by doing so they would be severely limit their ability to improve otherwise, and might prevent them from being able to re-sign Grimes, as they would be hard-capped at the first apron.

The more realistic scenario is that they could use the $5.7 million taxpayer mid-level exception to retain Yabu, but that might require him to take less than he could get elsewhere. For a guy who has never cashed in on any major NBA contracts, that might be a lot to ask.

While Yabusele has enjoyed his time in Philly and would be open to returning, he's understandably eager to ride the wave of free agency and see where it takes him.

"It’s going to be my first time really enjoying free agency, especially in the NBA. I’m pretty excited just to hear the offers, to see what’s going on, to see the movement," Yabusele said in a recent interview with Hoops Hype. "... And if it’s with the 76ers, I’ll be more than happy. ... 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."

Obviously, we'll have to wait and see how free agency shakes out, but it certainly seems like there's a good chance that Yabusele has already played his last game in a Sixers uniform.

Follow Michael Kaskey-Blomain on X @therealmikekb.