76ers Trade Matisse Thybulle to Trail Blazers

The Sixers are trading away Matisse Thybulle.

The Philadelphia 76ers are trading Matisse Thybulle to the Portland Trail Blazers, a source confirms to All76ers. Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report was the first to report. Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the trade is part of a three-team deal, which includes the Charlotte Hornets. The Sixers will land Jalen McDaniels in the deal, according to Wojnarowski. 

Thybulle, who’s been in trade rumors for the last few weeks, finds a new home after he failed to reach an extension with the Sixers during the offseason.

When Thybulle joined the Sixers as their first-round pick in 2019, he was an immediate contributor to the team. Coming off of a four-year stint at Washington, Thybulle was the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. While his offense was a question mark, Thybulle quickly established himself as one of the NBA’s most fierce perimeter defenders, which was an area of need for Philadelphia.

Over his first three NBA seasons, Thybulle averaged five points on the offensive end, hitting on 32 percent of his shots and taking 2.3 threes per game. Going into his fourth season with the Sixers, many hoped to see an offensive jump for the defensive standout. 

While Thybulle was certainly less hesitant to shoot on offense during the 2022-2023 season, his numbers didn’t see an increase. Over 49 games, Thybulle averaged just three points while hitting on 33 percent of his threes. Due to his offensive limitations, Doc Rivers couldn’t find steady minutes for Thybulle, who averaged 12 minutes of playing time this year, which marked a career-low.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.


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Message for Matisse 

One name that’s been consistently thrown in trade rumors for the Sixers consistently is Matisse Thybulle. The defensive standout was rumored to have multiple teams interested in services. As he navigates through another deadline, Tobias Harris revealed his message to the young veteran on Wednesday.

No Noise Until After the Deadline 

Sixers sharpshooter Georges Niang might not be a name thrown in rumors for the Sixers, but even if he was, he wouldn’t pay attention. Niang discussed his past memories of playing through the trade deadline, and made it clear that he does all he can to avoid hearing all of the outside noise.


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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA  Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation.  Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association.  Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA