Re-drafting the 2019 NBA Draft — 16. Matisse Thybulle, Orlando Magic
At risk of getting boo’d out of the city, for a long time I was going to put Matisse Thybulle even lower than this. He’s just not good on offense. At all. In the modern NBA, even the best defenders need to contribute offensively. Thybulle is a below-average shooter who can’t dribble to save his life, and he’s not exactly processing the game like Draymond Green.
Even so, Thybulle is already an All-NBA defender and he hasn’t averaged more than 20.0 minutes per game in a season. Last year, he totaled more blocks than Joel Embiid and more steals than Ben Simmons. He is a generational talent on the defensive end. Not only is he an elite point of attack defender, but he’s perhaps the best off-ball, free safety guy in basketball. No one gets more deflections in a condensed window of time than Thybulle.
The last thing Orlando needs is a rangy wing who cannot shoot or dribble… but it’s Thybulle, who again, has a second team All-Defense honor on his resumé after two seasons. He is arguably the best pound-for-pound defender in the NBA. It’s a testament to how bad the offense is that he isn’t much higher. Orlando will never score, but neither will the opposing team.