When the New York Knicks signed Guerschon Yabusele during this past summer's free agency period, many believed his addition to be a relative steal.
Measuring in at 6-foot-8, 265 pounds, the forward presented the ideal build to help bolster the club's lacking frontcourt depth, while his 36.9 three-point shooting percentage over his three seasons played in the league up to that point suggested he'd be a great fit in coach Mike Brown's perimeter-focused offense.
Fast forward roughly four months after pen met paper on his two-year deal with the Knicks, however, and it's apparent that fans are singing a much different and objectively more negative tune about the French forward.
Through six games played, Yabusele has appeared rather sluggish (and admittedly a bit overweight) when on the hardwood, while dropping incredibly underwhelming averages of 1.5 points and 3.0 rebounds on 20.0 percent shooting from the floor and 18.2 percent shooting from deep.
Over his last three outings, the 29-year-old has played a total of 18 minutes and has been benched for large stretches of time, even for the entirety of a half, like during last Friday's loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Naturally, this lackluster production and stretches of coach-determined inactivity have led to much speculation over whether New York made the right decision to sign Yabusele in the first place.
As a result of such chatter, some perspective is desperately needed.
Knicks signing of Guerschon Yabusele needs to be put into perspective
At this point, it should be clear that the hype surrounding the Yabusele signing was way too high, but that does not mean the Knicks should now be regretting it.
Is he a star? Not in the slightest -- but that's ok!
At his core, Yabusele is a player who can fill in at both the four and five within a lineup and can stretch the frontcourt offense to beyond the arc for spaced-out scoring looks.
In the hypothetical event that New York needs a replacement starter at power forward or center (let's not forget just how injury-prone both positions have been over the past few years), he's also someone who has proven capable of performing well with increased minutes.
Just last season, while with the Philadelphia 76ers, he averaged career highs with 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists on 50.1 percent shooting from the floor and 38.0 percent shooting from deep in 27.1 minutes a night.
Going from one scheme to learning another was already a hurdle that Yabusele was facing with his arrival in New York. Now, seeing his minutes decrease by nearly 20 a night, it shouldn't be shocking that he's going through even more drastic growing pains.
At the end of the day, his rotational versatility and proven upside alone should still intrigue the Knicks and their fanbase, especially given the fact that they have him at less than 4.0 percent of the cap through 2026-27.
Time will tell whether his addition will play out the way many initially hoped. Fortunately, regardless of the outcome, his price point makes his signing well worth the swing.