Getty Matisse Thybulle and Tobias Harris of the Philadelphia 76ers
There appears to be widespread interest in Philadelphia 76ers wing Matisse Thybulle. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported on February 8 that nine NBA teams in total have looked into acquiring Thybulle.
“Nearly a third of the league has expressed exploratory interest in trading for Sixers back-to-back All-Defensive player Matisse Thybulle at various points this season.
“The list includes the Hawks and Kings, per Marc Stein, and Warriors, according to Keith Pompey. Other teams who’ve called include the Pacers, Blazers, Bucks, Mavericks, Hornets, Raptors, and Suns, HoopsHype has learned.”
Though Thybulle has earned NBA All-Defense teams the past two seasons, his role on the team has been diminished the season due to the additions of P.J. Tucker and De’Anthony Melton. Evidently, despite playing much fewer minutes this season (12.1) compared to last season (25.5), Thybulle holds some value to quite a few NBA teams.
However, just because nine teams have called about Thybulle this season does not mean the Sixers will trade him just for the sake of trading him.
Analyst Previews Matisse Thybulle Trade
John Hollinger of The Athletic previewed why the Sixers could potentially trade Thybulle and what return they could get back for him.
“The Sixers could also look at moving on from Matisse Thybulle ($4.4 million) before he hits restricted free agency this summer,” Hollinger said. “Philly is already into next year’s tax thanks to Joel Embiid’s extension kicking in and may need a bigger bag for James Harden if he opts out of his $35.6 million as expected. Paying Thybulle in that environment seems unlikely, but he could probably return two second-round picks, a small trade exception, and a sidestepped tax bill this week.”
Hollinger also brought up that there are other players who the Sixers could potentially trade to save money.
“The Sixers are a mere $1.17 million over the tax line; despite having a good team that is in contention, they also have some very tradeable players at the end of the bench not doing much. Furkan Korkmaz, Danuel House, and Jaden Springer hardly play and make $12 million between them; they’re each signed for next year, which makes things more complicated, but Philly might be able to part with its 2023 Knicks second-rounder to offload one of them and get below the tax.”
There’s ‘Belief’ Thybulle Will Be Traded
Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that there is a belief that Thybulle will be traded at the trade deadline for a backup center.
“There’s a belief that the shooting guard will be moved before Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline as the team positions itself to win this season’s NBA title,” Pompey wrote. “The Sixers (34-18), who are third in the Eastern Conference, could replace him with a suitable backup center to help push the squad to a deep postseason run.”
The question is, which backup center could the Sixers get for Thybulle? Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported on February 4 which backup centers have come up in trade talks, including multiple former Sixers.
“The rest of the big men floating around the deadline have been reserves such as Serge Ibaka, Andre Drummond, Richaun Holmes, Mo Bamba, Jaxson Hayes, and Nerlens Noel.”