Matisse Thybulle Reveals Key Difference Between Sixers, Blazers

What's helping Matisse Thybulle find success with the Blazers?

After spending nearly four full seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, Matisse Thybulle found himself dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers midway through his contract year on the Sixers.

In a multi-team trade, the Sixers sent out Thybulle and a draft pick. In exchange, Philadelphia landed Jalen McDaniels from the Charlotte Hornets and two second-round picks.

After the trade deadline, Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey explained the motive behind swapping Thybulle out for McDaniels, citing preparation for playoffs as the main reason the Sixers felt McDaniels was a better option.

“A big theme of our season this year was to prepare for the playoffs and the championship, Morey said back in February. “As you guys know, we wanted to make sure we gave Doc as many two-way players as possible. We think Jalen is one of the up-and-coming solid defenders and gives us somebody that's a little easier to keep on the floor in a lot of matchups. We like what he brings, and we're excited.” 

This season with the Sixers, Thybulle’s role wasn’t steady. After struggling in the playoffs last season, the defensive standout was getting scattered minutes in the rotation while averaging just 12 minutes on the floor. 

In 49 games with the Sixers, Thybulle averaged three points and one rebound while shooting just 33 percent from deep on one attempt per game. 

Since the trade, Thybulle’s started in all ten games he’s appeared in, seeing his playing time increase to 30 minutes per game. With more playing time came more opportunities to work on being more productive. As a result, Thybulle is averaging eight points and four rebounds while knocking down 41 percent of his threes on four attempts per game.

While his Portland performance is a small sample size so far, Thybulle’s putting up career-best numbers with the Blazers. While discussing the differences between the Sixers and the Blazers that’s helped him find more offensive success with The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey, Thybulle noted that the fear of losing playing time due to on-court struggles made it hard to succeed.

“Any player that’s playing out of a place of fear is going to struggle,” he said. “Like there’s going to just be friction in everything you try to do. But when you play for a place of just discipline and receptiveness to what the game’s giving and what you are reading from it. I think there’s a lot more opportunity.

"And for me, specifically, I feel like there was a lot more fear-based play in Philadelphia as opposed to what I’m doing here in Portland.” 

Thybulle wasn’t the only reserve on the Sixers with an unclear role on a nightly basis. Other players, such as Paul Reed, Montrezl Harrell, and even Shake Milton at one point, weren’t sure whether or not they would get minutes heading into a game.

While the Sixers’ coaching staff always preached staying ready night in and night out, the players remained optimistic they would be able to produce. 

However, there isn’t a lot of room to make mistakes, which is where the “fear-based” description likely comes into play. 

Perhaps, Thybulle could be pointing out that players in Philadelphia have too short of a leash with the coaching staff to make mistakes. Or, he could be noting that it’s hard for a developing player to work out his kinks in an environment like Philadelphia, where the fans’ expectations are high.

Both could be true, but there’s a primary reason for the differences between Philadelphia and Portland. The Sixers are currently the third seed in the Eastern Conference holding a 43-22 record on their way to making the playoffs for the fifth-straight season. The expectations in Philly are NBA Finals or bust. 

Meanwhile, Portland’s on a different path. In a tight Western Conference playoff race, the Blazers are in the 13th spot with a 31-35 record. While the Blazers made the playoffs for eight-straight seasons leading up to last year, Portland missed the postseason in 2021-2022 for the first time since 2013. This season could be the second year in a row they come up short of the playoffs.

The Blazers might not be in a rebuild, but they aren’t on the same timeline as the Sixers, which can be good for a developing prospect such as Thybulle, who is working on becoming more of a two-way standout, rather than the situational defender he was with the Sixers.

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