The Los Angeles Lakers onboarded nine new pieces this offseason, but none may be more valuable than Matisse Thybulle, reckons ESPN’s Zach Kram.
In his season preview, Kram made a “bold prediction” involving the Lakers ahead of their season opener against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.
“Thybulle is the Lakers’ most valuable bench player,” Kram wrote of the two-time All-Defensive Second Team selection.
“Thybulle was one of the top underrated free agents this summer, after a quietly strong bounce-back season in Portland,” Kram continued. “And he should fill a major hole for the Lakers because of his ability to play tenacious perimeter defense and make the open 3s (41% over 45 games the last two seasons) that Doncic’s distribution creates.”
Building on Kram’s point, Thybulle has evolved into a reliable three-point shooter, improving from the low-to-mid 30s earlier in his career. Despite missing time over the last two seasons in Portland due to injury, he shot at a high clip whenever he shared the floor with Deni Avdija, Scoot Henderson and the rest of the Blazers.
Could Lakers Start Matisse Thybulle?
While Kram expects the Lakers to bring the Thybulle off the bench, there were indications during the preseason that the Australian could one of the two starters not named Walker Kessler, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. For what it’s worth, the Lakers started Thybulle and Zaire Williams besides their Big 3 in the final preseason game against the Denver Nuggets. However, Quentin Grimes — arguably the Lakers’ best catch-and-shoot threat — and Collin Sexton are also said to be in contention.
Given that defense remains their biggest weakness, JJ Redick can hardly be blamed for leaning on a defensive-minded lineup featuring Thybulle and Williams. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin broke down why this vulnerability continues to plague the team.
“L.A. was below average defensively last season. Even with its 16-2 late-season surge, L.A. still finished No. 20 in the NBA in defensive rating,” wrote McMenamin.
“Enter Kessler, with career averages of 5.9 defensive rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game to shore up that end for the Lakers. He already liked what he saw during offseason workouts,” McMenamin added, before quoting Kessler from training camp.
“I think we’re going to be a nasty defensive team, I’m just being honest,” Kessler said at the start of training camp.
“We’re going to be really good defensively. We have a lot of defensive tools.”
Lakers vs Warriors will tip off at 7 p.m. PT on Wednesday.
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