Sixers Gauging Interest in Matisse Thybulle and Pick 23
Despite a lack of cap space, the Sixers seem prepared to have a busy off-season. Rumors have swirled even going back to after the James Harden trade that the Sixers may move Tobias Harris this off-season. But now a different name is being thrown around as a trade piece. Both Adrian Wojnarowski and Keith Pompey have reported that the Sixers are shopping a combination of Matisse Thybulle and Pick 23 in tomorrow’s draft.
“If you’re a GM in the NBA and Daryl Morey hasn’t called and offered you #23 and Matisse Thybulle for someone on your roster, you probably have had your phone shut off.”- Adrian Wojnarowski
Thybulle was once considered untouchable. The Sixers reportedly would not include him in the deal for Harden. But he fell out of the fans, and perhaps even the team’s good graces. He was not allowed to enter Canada because he was not fully vaccinated. That meant that he missed 3 out of the 6 games vs the Raptors in Round 1. Then he struggled in the games he could play. Combine all that with the overall lack of growth in his offensive game, and it is easy to see why the team is now willing to move him.
What would they move him for? One possibility is for PJ Tucker, who Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer attached the Sixers to earlier this week. According to Pompey, the Sixers are pursuing a 3-team deal that would move Thybulle and the pick out to clear cap space and bring the former Rockets PF in. Morey was the GM for the Rockets when they acquired Tucker back in 2017. So he has a prior connection to Tucker. Tucker is not a big point scorer. But he would bring a toughness to the Sixers that they sorely need if they acquired him.
There is significant smoke around the Sixers moving on from Thybulle and their pick. With the draft being tomorrow, time is of the essence for negotiating any deal. They would have to wait 30 days to move any player they select at pick 23.
