Matisse Thybulle Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Blazers Match Mavericks’ Offer For Matisse Thybulle

July 8th, 2023 at 5:35am CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 8: NBA teams were notified on Friday night that the Blazers officially matched the Mavs’ offer sheet for Thybulle, reports Marc Stein (via Twitter).

JULY 6: The Trail Blazers have elected to match the three-year, $33MM offer sheet that Matisse Thybulle received from the Mavericks, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The offer sheet was signed and submitted to Portland Thursday morning, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The new Collective Bargaining Agreement gives teams just one day to decide whether to match offer sheets if they’re received before noon.

Thybulle’s new deal contains an $11.5MM player option for the third season, per Wojnarowski. It also features a 15% trade kicker, tweets Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report.

The Blazers will keep the 26-year-old swingman, who was acquired in a February trade with the Sixers. Thybulle was a restricted free agent after not working out a contract extension with Philadelphia last summer.

Thybulle is a defensive standout, with two appearances on the All-Defensive team in his first four seasons. He struggled to score with the Sixers, although his numbers improved after coming to Portland, where he became a full-time starter and averaged 7.4 PPG in 22 games while shooting 43.8% from the field and 38.8% from three-point range.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks details (via Twitter), Thybulle will have the right to veto any trade for the next year and cannot be dealt to the Mavs during that time. He will become trade-eligible on January 15.

According to Marks, the Blazers are $3.4MM below the luxury tax line with 13 players under standard contract, while the Mavs are $9MM below the tax and still have access to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which starts at $12.4MM in 2023/24.

The move is a setback for Dallas, which is hoping to remake its supporting cast around Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. The Mavericks are acquiring Grant Williams from the Celtics in a sign-and-trade deal and may search for another defensive-minded wing on the free agent market now that Thybulle is unavailable.

Mavs To Sign Thybulle To Offer Sheet; Blazers Will Have Right To Match

July 5th, 2023 at 8:30pm CST by Luke Adams

8:30pm: Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report believes there’s a “strong chance” the Blazers will match the offer sheet (Twitter link).

8:20pm: Thybulle will sign the offer sheet on Thursday, Haynes reports (via Twitter). Sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic that it will be a three-year, $33MM deal (Twitter link). Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports was first to report that the Mavs would likely pay the 26-year-old slightly below the full mid-level exception.

With the Mavs poised to land Grant Williams in a sign-and-trade deal involving Reggie Bullock, team salary projects to be above the $172.3MM hard cap based on the salary figures reported for Thybulle and Williams, notes Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Either some of Dallas’ signings will come in lower than reported or the team would have to shed some salary if it lands Thybulle.

11:18am: Restricted free agent forward Matisse Thybulle intends to sign an offer sheet with the Mavericks, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT (Twitter link). The Trail Blazers will have the right the match the offer to retain Thybulle.

One of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders, Thybulle has earned two All-Defensive nods during his first four years in the league. However, he has struggled to make an impact on the other side of the ball.

In 245 games with the Sixers during his first three-and-a-half seasons in the league, Thybulle averaged just 4.4 points per game on .448/.325/.667 shooting. He bumped those numbers to 7.4 PPG on .438/.388/.625 shooting in 22 contests with the Blazers following a February trade that sent him to Portland.

The Mavericks don’t have any cap room available, but they haven’t used any of their $12.4MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception, so their offer sheet for Thybulle will presumably come out of that figure. While the terms of the offer aren’t yet known, it will have to cover at least two seasons.

Marc Stein, who previously reported Dallas’ interest in Thybulle, said at the time that Portland has sent “behind-the-scenes signals” that it will match any reasonable offer sheet on the restricted free agent wing. It appears the Mavs are prepared to test the Blazers’ commitment to the 26-year-old, perhaps hoping that the uncertainty surrounding Damian Lillard‘s future will cause the team to waver on locking in Thybulle.

The two teams could theoretically still negotiate a sign-and-trade agreement, but that won’t be possible once Thybulle officially signs his offer sheet. At that time, the Blazers would simply have to decide whether to match it or whether to let him go to Dallas.

If Thybulle formally signs an offer sheet and Portland receives it before the July moratorium ends on Thursday at 12:00 pm Eastern time, the Blazers will have until 11:59 pm on Friday to make their decision. Players can sign offer sheets during the moratorium, but the clock on the matching team doesn’t start ticking until the moratorium is over.

Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams have one full day to match an offer sheet received before noon and two full days to match an offer sheet that comes in after noon. For example, if the Blazers were to receive Thybulle’s signed offer sheet at 3:00 pm ET on Thursday, they’d have until 11:59 pm on Saturday to make their decision.

The Mavericks were also said to have interest in restricted free agent forward Grant Williams.

Stein’s Latest: RFAs, Washington, Mavs, Bol, JVG, Bojan

July 5th, 2023 at 2:23pm CST by Luke Adams

There has been more buzz in recent days about restricted free agents Grant Williams and Matisse Thybulle – who reportedly intends to sign an offer sheet with Dallas – than Hornets RFA P.J. Washington, Marc Stein writes in his latest Substack article. As Stein explains, there are a couple reasons for that.

For one, the Hornets are in a better position to a match a rival offer sheet than Boston or Portland. The Celtics project to be well over the luxury tax line, while the Trail Blazers still aren’t certain what their books will look like after they finalize a Damian Lillard trade.

Additionally, while the Celtics and Trail Blazers would both have to weigh whether or not to match offer sheets signed using the mid-level exception, such a deal would presumably be an automatic match for the Hornets with Washington. According to Stein, Washington is believed to be seeking a deal in the range of $18MM per year.

Here’s more from Stein:

Following up on a report that the Magic and Mavericks discussed a trade involving Bol Bol around the time of the draft, Stein explains that Dallas pitched the idea of taking on Bol as a salary dump along with Orlando’s No. 36 overall pick. The Magic turned down that proposal and ended up moving No. 36 for a 2030 second-round pick and cash.
Jeff Van Gundy, who was recently let go by ESPN, told the Mavericks he wasn’t interested in a job as an assistant on Jason Kidd‘s coaching staff, according to Stein, who says that it’s not yet known whether Van Gundy will attempt to return to coaching in some form or seek another broadcasting opportunity.
While teams around the league remain interested in acquiring forward Bojan Bogdanovic, the Pistons have held firm on their stance that they plan to keep the sharpshooting veteran, says Stein. There seems to be little concern about the Achilles issue that sidelined Bogdanovic for Detroit’s final 18 games, Stein adds, noting that the general sense is that the Pistons were just being “extra cautious,” with little to play for.

Washington, Williams, Thybulle Among RFAs Still Available

July 4th, 2023 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Of the eight free players on our list of top 50 free agents who have yet to reach new deals, five are restricted free agents. Those five restricted free agents are also the only ones still available at all (not including those coming off on two-way deals). Those players are as follows:

P.J. Washington (Hornets)
Grant Williams (Celtics)
Matisse Thybulle (Trail Blazers)
Ayo Dosunmu (Bulls)
Paul Reed (Sixers)

While I’m sure these five players would’ve preferred to agree to lucrative new contracts in the opening hours of free agency, it’s not necessarily an ominous sign that they’ve yet to line up new deals four days later. It can sometimes take a little longer for the market for restricted free agents to develop, but it doesn’t mean they won’t get paid.

A year ago, for instance, Deandre Ayton didn’t sign his maximum-salary offer sheet with the Pacers (which was quickly matched by the Suns) until July 14, two weeks after the start of free agency. Collin Sexton, who received a four-year, $71MM in a sign-and-trade deal that sent him to Utah as part of the Donovan Mitchell blockbuster, didn’t resolve his restricted free agency until September.

The same thing happens with a few restricted free agents just about every year. In 2021, RFAs like Josh Hart (three years, $38MM) and Lauri Markkanen (four years, $67MM) took multiple weeks to reach new contract agreements.

In other words, there’s still plenty of time for Washington, Williams, Thybulle, Dosunmu, and Reed to find deals they like.

Washington, Williams, and Thybulle, in particular, seem like good bets to cash in sooner or later. A report over the weekend indicated that Washington was drawing interest from multiple teams besides the Hornets. Williams has reportedly received interest from Charlotte and Dallas, with the Mavericks also said to be keeping an eye on Thybulle.

It would be a surprise if any of them had to settle for a below-market deal. It sounds like teams are still in the process of figuring out if an offer sheet will be an exercise in futility or if there’s a legitimate chance to pry away one of those players from his current club — and if so, what the price point would be.

There hasn’t been as much chatter about Dosunmu or Reed, but there haven’t been any red flags on either front. Their qualifying offers ($5.2MM for Dosunmu; $2.3MM for Reed) remain in place as one-year fallback options.

The Spurs are the one team that still has enough cap room to make a strong play for any of those top RFAs, if they so choose. The Rockets may also be able to offer more than the full mid-level, depending on how all their moves shake out, and teams below the tax apron are free to try to negotiate sign-and-trades.

It has become pretty rare for restricted free agents to change teams via offer sheets, but sign-and-trade deals aren’t uncommon — they get the player to his preferred landing spot while ensuring that his old team picks up an asset or two.

There are still several unrestricted free agents whose landing spots will be worth watching too, including Christian Wood, Kelly Oubre, Hamidou Diallo, Jaylen Nowell, and Dario Saric. But at this point in free agency, it’s the RFA market that looks more intriguing.

Stein’s Latest: Mavs, Thybulle, J. Allen, Maxey, D. Powell

July 2nd, 2023 at 5:45pm CST by Luke Adams

In addition to their previously reported interest in Grant Williams, the Mavericks have their eye on another restricted free agent, Matisse Thybulle of the Trail Blazers, league sources tell veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein (Substack story).

It’s unclear if Dallas has a real shot at either player — according to Stein, the Celtics and Blazers have been sending “behind-the-scenes signals” that they plan to match any offer sheet on their respective RFAs, and the over-the-cap Mavericks will be limited to the mid-level exception.

Besides pursuing another wing, the Mavericks would still like to upgrade their center spot. They explored trades for Clint Capela and Deandre Ayton and would have been interested in Naz Reid if he had reached free agency, Stein writes. For now, Dwight Powell and Richaun Holmes appears poised to vie for the starting job as lottery pick Dereck Lively adjusts to the NBA.

Here’s more from Stein’s latest look around the league:

There have been some “whispers” this week that Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen may be more available via trade than the team is letting on, says Stein. Allen was an All-Star in 2021/22 and had another solid season in ’22/23, but struggled to make an impact during Cleveland’s first-round playoff loss to New York.
Stein, like some other reporters, has heard that the Sixers have essentially made Tyrese Maxey untouchable in trade discussions. A team source tells Stein that Philadelphia views Maxey as an integral part of the club’s future and is adamant that he won’t be available in any trade.
According to Stein, Dwight Powell received “serious” interest from the Rockets before deciding to remain with the Mavericks. Houston pivoted to Jock Landale after Powell chose Dallas, Stein explains.

Blazers Issue Qualifying Offer To Matisse Thybulle

June 28th, 2023 at 2:39pm CST by Luke Adams

2:39pm: The Blazers aren’t expected to tender a qualifying offer to Reddish, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

2:12pm: The Trail Blazers have issued a qualifying offer to Matisse Thybulle, making him a restricted free agent, the team announced today in a press release.

Thybulle’s qualifying offer is a one-year, $6,275,862 contract offer that he has the option of accepting. If he wants to negotiate a more lucrative and/or multiyear deal, Portland will control the process as long as that QO remains on the table. Thybulle could sign an offer sheet with another team, but the Blazers would have the right of first refusal, giving them the ability to match it.

Thybulle opened last season by averaging a career-low 12.1 minutes and 2.7 points per game in 49 appearances for the Sixers. As talented a perimeter defender as he is, the 26-year-old didn’t appear to be a lock to receive a qualifying offer at that point due to his offensive shortcomings.

However, Thybulle finished the season strong after a February trade sent him to Portland. In 22 games (all starts) as a Blazer, he bumped his scoring average to a career-best 7.4 PPG and grabbed 3.4 RPG while making 38.8% of his three-pointers. A two-time All-Defensive player during his first four NBA seasons, Thybulle could be a valuable rotation player if he can continue to develop his offensive game.

Notably, today’s Portland press release doesn’t include any mention of Cam Reddish, another Blazers player who is eligible for restricted free agency. The team has until Thursday to issue a qualifying offer to Reddish, but clubs typically announce their QOs at the same time. If Reddish doesn’t get a $7.7MM QO from the Blazers, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent.

Blazers Rumors: Grant, Thybulle, Reddish, No. 3 Pick, Sharpe, More

May 31st, 2023 at 7:42am CST by Luke Adams

Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant still appears on track to become a free agent this offseason rather than accepting the maximum four-year, $113MM extension he can sign until June 30. Appearing on the HoopsHype podcast with Michael Scotto, Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report said he doesn’t expect the annual salary on Grant’s next deal to be worth more than about $30MM, but suggests that the forward may be waiting until free agency in order to get a fifth year from Portland.

“I think it’s going to come out around five years, $150 million, with probably a player option,” Highkin said. “I know he gets talked about as one of the top free agents on the market, but I’d expect that gets done pretty quickly. It might even be a (6:01 pm) on June 30th type of signing.”

As for restricted free agents Matisse Thybulle and Cam Reddish, Highkin views Thybulle as the player who is more likely to re-sign with the Blazers, suggesting that the former Sixer will be a priority for the front office. Highkin is less certain about Portland’s appetite for a new deal with Reddish, telling Scotto that the team would probably have interest in bringing back the former lottery pick if the price is right.

Here are more highlights from the conversation between Scotto and Highkin:

Scotto has gotten the sense that the Trail Blazers are comfortable keeping the No. 3 overall pick and drafting either Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson, even as they plan to continue building around Damian Lillard. However, Highkin believes Portland is far more likely to trade the pick for an established veteran, mentioning two-way forwards like Jaylen Brown and Pascal Siakam as potential targets while downplaying the likelihood of the club pursuing offensive-minded players like Zach LaVine. Another Raptors forward, OG Anunoby, has also been linked to the Blazers and would be a good fit on the roster, but Highkin doesn’t expect Portland to give up the No. 3 pick for Anunoby.
There are some people in Portland who believe Shaedon Sharpe has All-Star potential, according to Scotto. Highkin agrees that the Blazers are high on Sharpe and expects he’ll be kept out of any trade that doesn’t return a superstar (“Joel Embiid or something like that”). Anfernee Simons is the more likely trade candidate, Highkin explains, given his larger cap hit and his fit next to Lillard. Sharpe, who has more size and defensive upside than Simons, is the more logical long-term backcourt partner for Dame.
The Blazers may make some changes to their coaching staff this summer to give Chauncey Billups some more experienced assistants, Highkin notes. The organization remains optimistic about Billups’ potential as a head coach and wants to give him an opportunity to lead a more competitive roster, Highkin adds.
When the Blazers signed Jusuf Nurkic to a four-year, $70MM contract last offseason, that didn’t necessarily mean they thought he was their center of the future, according to Highkin, who believes the team is “very open” to moving Nurkic and will explore trade possibilities this summer. Highkin suggests that Nurkic’s willingness to be shut down with a leg injury in 2021/22 when Portland went into tank mode played a part in Portland’s decision to “take care” of him in free agency last summer.

And-Ones: Boomers, Awards, Thibodeau, Butler, Gilbert

May 7th, 2023 at 9:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

All but one of the 11 Australian players in the NBA have been named to the extended Australian Boomers squad for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Olgun Uluc of ESPN reports. The exception is a notable one — the Nets’ Ben Simmons, though there’s a possibility he’ll be added ahead of the selection camp.

Simmons recently expressed interest in playing for Australia in this year’s World Cup.

Some of the NBA current or past players who made the 18-man list include Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Matthew Dellavedova, Dante Exum, Josh Green, Jock Landale, Matisse Thybulle, Josh Giddey, Dyson Daniels, Xavier Cooks and Thon Maker. The team will eventually be pared to 12 players.

We have from around the basketball world:

It’s going to be a busy week in terms of NBA awards announcements, the league’s communications department tweets. The All-Rookie team will be revealed on Monday, the All-Defensive Team will be unveiled on Tuesday and the All-NBA team will be announced on Wednesday. The Teammate of the Year award will be announced on Thursday.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau is looking for ways to slow down red-hot Jimmy Butler and the Heat. ESPN’s Nick Friedell takes an in-depth look at the relationship between Thibodeau and his former player.
Nick Gilbert, son of Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, has died at the age of 26, according to ESPN’s News Services. Nick Gilbert had a lifelong battle with neurofibromatosis (NF1), which causes noncancerous tumors to grow on the brain, spinal cord and skin. He became well-known to NBA fans for being Cleveland’s good luck charm at the draft lottery, as the Cavs twice got the top pick when he was the team’s lottery representative.

Grant Williams Meets Starter Criteria, Increases QO

April 5th, 2023 at 8:44am CST by Luke Adams

After logging 29 minutes on Tuesday night in the Celtics‘ loss to Philadelphia, forward Grant Williams has now played more than 2,000 minutes this season, meeting the “starter criteria” for restricted free agents.

A player achieves the starter criteria when he starts at least 41 games or plays at least 2,000 minutes in the season before he becomes eligible for restricted free agency (or if he averages 41 starts or 2,000 minutes in the two seasons leading up to his free agency).

Williams made 21 starts and logged 1,875 minutes in 2021/22 and has started just 23 games this season, but has now surpassed the minutes-played requirement for ’22/23.

As a result of meeting the starter criteria, the 24-year-old will see the value of his qualifying offer increase by more than $2MM. The No. 22 overall pick in the 2019 draft, Williams had been on track for a QO worth $6,235,495, but that figure will be bumped to $8,486,620, which is the equivalent of what the No. 9 pick in his draft class would receive.

That modest bump may not have a tangible impact on Williams’ free agency. He’s considered highly likely to sign a new multiyear contract that exceeds $8.5MM in annual average value, so that qualifying offer would essentially just serve as a placeholder during his negotiations with the Celtics or rival suitors.

If Williams doesn’t get any multiyear offers he likes and is intrigued by the possibility of reaching unrestricted free agency in 2024, accepting a one-year, $8.5MM offer would certainly hold more appeal than signing a one-year, $6.2MM offer, but his restricted free agency seems unlikely to play out that way.

Williams is the sixth potential restricted free agent to meet the starter criteria so far this season, joining P.J. Washington, Tre Jones, and Ayo Dosunmu — Kenyon Martin Jr. and Herbert Jones also made more than 41 starts, but they have 2023/24 team options on their respective contracts and may not reach free agency this summer (Jones definitely won’t, based on the structure of his deal).

Nets forward Cameron Johnson could join that group by starting two of Brooklyn’s last three regular season games this week. Trail Blazers forward Matisse Thybulle will fall just short of the starter criteria after missing Tuesday’s game — he needs to make four more starts, but Portland now only has three games left on its schedule.

Sixers Notes: Embiid, Thybulle, Reed, McDaniels

March 12th, 2023 at 9:04am CST by Luke Adams

Already the NBA’s leading scorer, Sixers star Joel Embiid has taken his offensive game to another level since the All-Star break, averaging an eye-popping 35.1 points and 4.4 assists per night on .549/.400/.838 shooting in his last eight games (35.9 MPG). His latest signature performance came on Friday vs. Portland, when he racked up 39 points and made a game-winning basket in the final seconds of the game.

“That’s why he’s MVP of the league this year,” teammate James Harden said.

Much of the Most Valuable Player discourse as of late has focused on Nikola Jokic, who is the best player on the West’s best team and is positioning himself for a third consecutive consecutive MVP award. However, as Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes, Embiid – the runner-up in 2021 and 2022 – is building a strong case of his own, scoring nearly nine points per game more than Jokic and dominating on both ends of the floor.

While Pompey acknowledges that Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic, and especially Giannis Antetokounmpo are worthy MVP candidates, he believes it’s once again shaping up to be a two-man race between the Sixers’ and Nuggets’ star centers, and he favors Embiid at this point.

Here’s more out of Philadelphia:

Facing former teammate Matisse Thybulle on Friday for the first time since the fourth-year wing was traded to Portland last month, Embiid said he told Thybulle he “kinda was not happy with some of the comments that were made lately,” according to Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. Thybulle has spoken multiple times since being dealt about feeling more comfortable with his new team than he did in Philadelphia. Embiid said on Friday that “playing in Philly is not easy” and comes with a lot of pressure, though as Carlin observes, Thybulle’s comments about his “fear-based play” as a Sixer were more about how the team was handling his minutes than about the championship expectations in Philadelphia.
The Sixers have rotated through multiple players at backup center this season, but Paul Reed has been establishing himself lately as the go-to option in that role. As Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia writes, head coach Doc Rivers believes Reed is building chemistry with his teammates – including Harden – and has a better grasp of his role than he did earlier in the year. Reed will be eligible for restricted free agency this summer.
A Sixer for just over a month, Jalen McDaniels is becoming an important rotation player for the club, says Rich Hofmann of The Athletic. As Levick details, Rivers suggested he’s looking for ways to get McDaniels more minutes at different positions, adding that he’s confident in the forward’s shooting ability despite his modest results (3-of-10 three-pointers) since joining the 76ers. “He’s a way better shooter than we thought,” Rivers said. “He can shoot the ball. It’s not great results yet, but you’ll see ‘em. You can just tell by the way he shoots the ball.”