Celtics Rumors: Former 1st-Round Draft Pick Guerschon Yabusele to Be Waived

The Boston Celtics are waiving power forward Guerschon Yabusele, according to Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes.

The Celtics selected Yabusele with the 16th overall pick in the 2016 draft. He has appeared in 74 games for the team, averaging 2.3 points and 1.4 rebounds.

The Celtics selected Grant Williams and Romeo Langford in the first round of the 2019 draft, and second-rounders Carsen Edwards and Tremont Waters are proving in the NBA's summer league that they're worthy of roster spots. Even undrafted rookie Tacko Fall is making an impression in Las Vegas.

"I really admire him because he walks in the building and everybody is talking about him," head coach Brad Stevens said, per MassLive.com's John Karalis. "He dunks and lands on his feet and he's still hanging on the rim and everybody's talking about it. My daughter and son are watching the games to watch him. But I admire all the things about him not only on the court but off the court."

As a result, the end of the bench was starting to get crowded in Boston.

Yabusele provided little in his first two years, and his summer-league performance has been especially disappointing.

Given his NBA experience, the 23-year-old should be acquitting himself well in Vegas. Instead, he had four points and six rebounds while shooting 1-of-7 in two games.

Under the terms of his rookie deal, Yabusele had a $4.7 million team option in 2020-21, and Boston could've tendered a $6.7 million qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent in 2021.

By waiving him, the Celtics are potentially on the hook for his $3.1 million salary in 2019-20, but they're smart to accept that as a sunk cost and move on now.