The New York Knicks made no bigger on-court add than Guerschon Yabusele, who's averaging just 10 minutes per game thus far. On Wednesday, Precious Achiuwa scored 20 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for the Kings in a big win over the Knicks. Yabusele played just six minutes, scoring two points on 1-of-5 shooting. It was a rough look for the Knicks to see a former player of theirs, that the Kings signed two weeks into the season, outplay Yabusele so thoroughly. While Yabu had nothing to do with New York's choice, it was more proof that his time with the team has been a letdown to start.
Achiuwa outplaying Yabusele was literal insult to injury
Wednesday night's game had already gotten off to a tough start for the Knicks, who saw superstar point guard Jalen Brunson leave just five minutes into the contest with what the team later said was a right ankle injury. Brunson was ruled out for the second half but was seen leaving the arena with a boot, or limp, relevant in advance of Thursday night's game against Golden State.
Achiuwa, however, added insult to injury by going 7-of-14 from the field, including 2-of-4 from downtown, and stuffing the stat sheet in 39 minutes of play. The Nigeria native scored 20 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and recorded two assists, two steals, and two blocks. He turned the ball over twice, but got to the free throw line for four total attempts and made half of them.
The performance brought Achiuwa's season averages in Sacramento to 7.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 0.9 steals in 20.8 minutes per game. He's making just one-third of his 3-pointers after the 50% performance, indicating that his prowess from downtown on Wednesday was an outlier. That's no surprise to fans who remember his time in New York.
For Achiuwa, though, he makes up for what he lacks in 3-point accuracy with high-motor hustle plays and devasting dunks. That's ironically exactly what the Knicks have been missing themselves this season, with head coach Mike Brown often citing the team's lack of physicality as an issue.
There's no guarantee that holding onto Achiuwa, who went unsigned through the entirety of the offseason and first couple weeks of regular season action, would have prevented the Knicks' flaws from showing as intensely as they did on Wednesday. With the team starting 2026 with a 2-4 record, though, it's easy to look around and point at any move from the past as a potential mistake.
That said, it's becoming clearer that New York's gamble on Yabusele wasn't best for them or the French big man. Hopefully for both parties, some sort of resolution can be found quickly. Maybe the Knicks should ask the Kings if they'd want a player like Achiuwa, except with a more historically reliable 3-point shot.