Sixers: Predicting NBA 2K22 ratings for every player

Predicting Sixers NBA 2K22 ratings — Matisse Thybulle, 76

Matisse Thybulle ended last season at a lowly 74, which speaks volumes about 2K’s general preference for offensive skill over defensive skill. Thybulle is arguably the best pound-for-pound perimeter defender on the planet, and he barely out-ranked D.J. Augustin.

If anyone is due for a boost, it’s Thybulle. He made second team All-Defense despite averaging 20.0 minutes per game, and he led the Sixers in total blocks and total steals (the same team that rosters Joel Embiid and Defensive Player of the Year runner-up Ben Simmons). He is a generational defensive talent, which is enough to at least tie up Furkan Korkmaz

The next step for Thybulle, of course, is becoming anything at all on offense. Right now, he’s almost exclusively a spot-up shooter, and he’s not a good spot-up shooter. There is time for improvement, and the ongoing decline of Danny Green could facilitate more opportunities in his third year, but the offense will continue to drag Thybulle down.

Even with zero offensive juice in the tank, it’s hard to imagine Thybulle will debut at below a 75. He’s too important to the Sixers’ bench. If Ben Simmons inevitably gets traded, then he becomes even more important, as Philadelphia will thus lose a major defensive force on the perimeter — one only Thybulle is truly capable of replicating.