7. Matisse Thybulle
Despite being a rookie, Matisse Thybulle has made it to the top tier of Philadelphia 76ers’ first round picks for this past decade. His high ranking has to do with the fact that for almost all of this year, he’s been in the rotation on a playoff team even though he’s just in his first season.
The Sixers traded up to the 20th pick in the 2019 NBA to select Thybulle. Philly sent the 24th pick (Ty Jerome) and the 33rd pick (Carsen Edwards) to the Boston Celtics so that they could get Thybulle and it appears to have paid off.
Thybulle is already proven to be one of the best, if not the best defender form the 2019 draft class. He’s averaging 1.4 steals, which leads all rookies. The 6-foot-5 wing has real potential to make the NBA’s All-Defensive team in the next couple of seasons.
If Thybulle was a consistent threat on offense, he’d probably be even higher on this list. He’s averaging 4.7 points on 35.2 percent shooting from downtown. If the 6-foot-5 wing continues to develop into an elite 3-and-D, it’s going to be hard to keep him out of the starting five and the top-5 of these rankings.