Philadelphia 76ers: Zhaire Smith and Matisse Thybulle showing potential

For the Philadelphia 76ers coaching staff and fans, this NBA Summer League is showing how important Zhaire Smith and Matisse Thybulle will be next season.

Three games into the 2019 NBA Summer League and there’s some good takeaways for the Philadelphia 76ers. The biggest of these is the development of their past two first round picks. Both Zhaire Smith and Matisse Thybulle are proving how important they can be to the Sixers rotation next season.

They are clearly two of the best players that Philly has on their summer league roster. Both are showing elite defensive talent and Smith has shown more diversity with his offensive skills set, along with some great highlight dunks. Both players are putting up very solid numbers this summer league.

The following summer league stats are from RealGM. Thybulle is averaging 12.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.7 blocks, while converting 39.3 percent of his field goal attempts and 36.8 percent on 3-pointers. While the field goal percentage and averaging 3.0 turnovers aren’t great, Thybulle is showing real promise as a 3-and-D player at this very early stage of his career.

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Smith has shown so much progress from last year’s summer league. In his rookie summer league debut, he averaged 7.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.0 steal and 0.5 blocks, while making 32.1 percent from the floor and 20.0 percent from downtown. This year in summer league, he’s averaging 14.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.3 blocks, while shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 33.3 percent on 3-pointers.

Smith still has a long way in regards to becoming a more polished scorer and 3-point shooter, but the the tools to be lethal in transition and an elite perimeter defender is there. Both players have the Sixers in a great place to be a good perimeter defensive team for a long time. Despite the impressive stats, both players are showing that they can step up to a challenge.

In Philly’s third summer league game, the team really struggled against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Sixers were down by 31-points at one point in the second quarter. Yet the team, as a whole, was able to fight their way back into the game. Key plays by Smith and Thybulle pushed the game into overtime. While the 76ers eventually lost, the fact that the duo got Philly to overtime is big. It shows they are ready for high pressure situations.

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Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown will have a hard decision to make in regards to who gets playing time at both wings spots off the bench. Smith and Thybulle are showing that they are ready for NBA minutes and the Sixers still have veteran James Ennis as well. It’s a tough, but good situation that Brown is faced with in regards to the reserve wing rotation this upcoming season.