The Philadelphia 76ers should keep all options on the table this offseason.
The NBA’s current timeline is still in limbo — no one has a strong grasp on when (or if) the season will resume, and that uncertainty extends to the offseason. Regardless of how the timeline plays out, the Philadelphia 76ers will have a lot to do when the season officially ends. Some major overhauls are inevitable.
The expectation is Philadelphia tries to trade Al Horford this summer. It won’t be easy — Horford is tethered to one of the NBA’s ugliest contracts — but in the end, the Sixers have to try. Odds are it will require additional assets to tempt a team into Horford. An obvious candidate is Matisse Thybulle.
At the trade deadline in February, the Sixers were adamant about keeping Thybulle. He’s one of the most exciting defensive prospects in basketball, so Philadelphia’s maintained interest in keeping him is grounded in reason. However, Thybulle is a deeply flawed player, and he’s not good enough to prioritize over the removal of Horford’s ill-fitted contract.
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Thybulle is a zero on offense. He’s a below-average shooter and a rudimentary ball-handler. He can make some timely cuts, but he is otherwise ineffective. While there is undeniable value rooted in his defense, it’s difficult for someone to contribute to a championship-level offense without the ability to either shoot or create for others at a league-average rate. Thybulle doesn’t check either box.
In time, it’s reasonable to expect improvement from Thybulle. His shooting numbers at home are far better than his numbers on the road. Perhaps experience will equate to fewer nerves, and his percentages will creep upward as a result. Still, even then, it’s difficult to picture Thybulle becoming a true positive on offense.
There is a real chance Thybulle makes multiple All-Defense teams before he retires. Some even believe he could contend for Defensive Player of the Year. It’s difficult to part with a prospect of that magnitude. The Sixers shouldn’t want to trade Thybulle. The degree to which Horford’s contract reeks simply outweighs Thybulle’s unusually high number of stocks.
If Thybulle were an elite on-ball defender, that might alter his status as a “tradeable” asset. He’s not, however, and a dynamic free-safety defender who can’t shoot at the league-average rate simply isn’t important enough — not in Philadelphia, at least — to completely avoid trade discussions. Not trade discussions that could involve the removal of Horford’s contract from the Sixers’ sketchy financial situation.
The Sixers need to probe the Horford market hard this summer. If it a deal takes Thybulle to complete — especially if that deal involves useful players in return — the Sixers should not hesitate.