28-Year-Old Shooting Guard Opts Into Player Option with the Blazers

Largely known for his exceptional defense, Matisse Thybulle is one of the league’s most underrated defenders and shot-makers. The former Washington Huskie averages two steals a game and shoots a career-best 34 percent from the three-point line. Due to his versatility, he can guard almost any position. He is quick enough to guard smaller guards and tall enough to defend wings and bigger players. For a player who stands at six-foot-five, that is impressive. Thybulle is coming off a year where he averaged seven points, three rebounds, and one assist while shooting 47 percent from the field for the Trail Blazers. He looks to continue to raise his stock in the league because today it was reported that he has opted into his $11.5 million contract with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Thybulle started off his career with the Philadelphia 76ers, who selected him with the 20th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. He immediately joined a team that was looking to contend for an NBA Championship after coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Toronto Raptors in Game Seven of the previous playoffs. During his rookie season, he joined Allen Iverson as the only 76ers rookie to record five threes and three steals in a game. This was just the beginning for the former Huskie to show his defensive prowess. By his second year, Thybulle was selected to the All-Defensive Second Team. He led the NBA in steals with 3.8. The Sixers picked up his team option and extended him following the 2022-23 season.

However, the Sixers traded him to the Trail Blazers as part of a four-team deal with the Charlotte Hornets and the New York Knicks. While with the Blazers, Thybulle is playing some of the best basketball of his career by averaging a career-high in points, rebounds, and assists, while still being a force on the defensive end. However, towards the end of the 2024 season, he suffered an ankle injury that forced him to miss essentially the whole 2025 season. He only played in 15 games last season for a Blazers squad that is on the come-up. Now, fully healthy, Thybulle looks to contribute to the team on both ends of the court and help this team make the playoffs.