Last week, French basketball star Guerschon Yabusele was given the opportunity to return to the NBA thanks to his excellent performance at the 2024 Olympics.
Yabusele will join the Philadelphia 76ers, preparing to become teammates with big stars like Joel Embiid or Paul George and continue writing his life’s dream.
But at the same time, the French big man will bring a small amount of money to his home team before the Olympics, Real Madrid.
Nurturing talent, enriching the economy
Guerschon Yabusele is the latest name to be “exported” by Real Madrid to the NBA, in return they receive a sum of money thanks to the current contract release fee.
Since Yabusele is currently on Real Madrid’s payroll, he will have to release his contract to become a free agent, then sign a new contract with the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA. Yabusele’s contract release fee is 2.5 million euros, paid by the 76ers.
Just like that, Real Madrid let their players go and got some money in return. According to EuroBasket, the Spanish basketball club has pocketed more than 20 million euros in the past 10 years, an average of nearly 2 million euros per year.
Real Madrid’s trend of nurturing talent and then “selling” it to the NBA began with Nikola Mirotic, a player of Spanish and Montenegrin descent. Mirotic joined Real Madrid in 2008, when he was just 17 years old.
After becoming one of Europe’s top names, Nikola was scouted by the Chicago Bulls in 2014. In order to recruit this star, the NBA team activated the contract release clause, sending Mirotic to the US and paying Real Madrid 2.5 million euros.
Like Mirotic, Luka Doncic also joined Real Madrid as a child and to get his foot in the NBA (2018 NBA Draft pick by the Dallas Mavericks), he brought Real Madrid 2 million euros. Since 2014, 7 different players have said goodbye to Real Madrid to join the NBA.
If Luka Doncic is the most famous name, Facundo Campazzo is the one who brings the most value. The Argentine guard has a contract release fee of up to 6 million euros and the Denver Nuggets agreed to pay it in 2020.
Interestingly, after 3 years playing in the NBA, Campazzo “left the field”, now returned to Real Madrid and played for the Spanish royal club from 2023 until now.
List of Real Madrid players released from contract to play in NBA
| Player | Nationality | Year | Contract release fee | NBA Team |
| Nikola Mirotic | Spain | 2014 | 2.5 million euros | Chicago Bulls |
| Sergio Rodriguez | Spain | 2016 | 3 million euros | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Luka Doncic | Slovenia | 2018 | 2 million euros | Dallas Mavericks |
| Facundo Campazzo | Argentina | 2020 | 6 million euros | Denver Nuggets |
| Grabiel Deck | Argentina | 2021 | 1.3 million euros | OKC Thunder |
| Usman Garuba | Spain | 2021 | 3 million euros | Houston Rockets |
| Guerschon Yabusele | France | 2024 | 2.5 million euros | Philadelphia 76ers |
