As the Portland Trail Blazers weigh their options on a Damian Lillard trade, the team also wants to secure one of their young assets in Matisse Thybulle. The Dallas Mavericks signed Thybulle, a restricted free agent, to a three-year, $33 million offer sheet. On Thursday, the Blazers matched the Mavs' offer for Thybulle, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Highkin said that the Blazers always planned to keep Thybulle regardless of how the roster looks for next season. Portland received Thybulle from the Philadelphia 76ers as part of a four-team trade in February. The swingman started all 22 games he played with the Blazers, averaging 7.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game.
Thybulle is an elite defender and should fit well into Portland's long-term plans, though there was always the chance he'd rather join the Mavs and at least have a shot at playing postseason basketball, something the Blazers are unlikely to do in the next couple of years. Thybulle is a two-time All-Defensive Second-Team player and has the ability to guard multiple positions.
The Blazers will love to have that sort of player in their starting lineup and saw enough from Thybulle last season to make him that player. Thybulle can also shoot the three fairly well. He's a 33.4% shooter from beyond the arc for his career and shot 38.8% with the Blazers last season.
The Mavs had a puncher's chance of adding Matisse Thybulle to their already busy offseason of moves, but it's now official that he'll be staying put in Portland with the Blazers.
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