The Sixers had little choice but to trade Matisse Thybulle

Here sits Matisse Thybulle.

He never improved.

There’s no sense in sugarcoating it. There are lots of epitaphs you can write for Thybulle’s tenure with the Sixers, which ended Thursday when he was dealt to the Trail Blazers as part of a four-team trade that brought Jalen McDaniels to Philadelphia. The one that rings truest is the reason he’s gone. The player the Sixers drafted four years ago was, for the most part, the player they still had.

That’s not a knock on Thybulle’s effort or the Sixers’ wisdom in trading with Boston to acquire him at the 2019 draft. It’s simply a reality that Daryl Morey and Doc Rivers needed to face as they make their final preparations for this year’s playoff run. Thybulle was averaging 12.1 minutes per game for a team whose rotation will shrink even further once the postseason arrives.

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With restricted free agency looming, the only thing the Sixers had to gain by keeping him past Thursday’s trade deadline was the right to match any contract offer he received. They had clearly decided they were not going to exercise that right. The only option, then, was to look to recoup whatever value they could.

The Sixers’ return tells you all you need to know about Thybulle’s value. In a lot of ways, McDaniels is the type of player that the Sixers thought Thybulle had a decent chance of becoming. He isn’t a great offensive player, but he is an active one, and capable enough that he can command his fair share of a defense’s attention.

In 56 games for the Hornets this season, McDaniels averaged a career-high 8.8 field goal attempts in 26.7 minutes. That’s an average of 11.9 attempts per 36 minutes, 4.5 more than Thybulle’s career high. McDaniels is a career .343 shooter from three-point range, better than Thybulle’s career average of .325.

Like Thybulle, McDaniels brings much of his value on the defensive end. Unlike Thybulle, he is 6-foot-9 and capable of playing both the three and the four in addition to guarding ballhandlers on the perimeter. He also brings fewer of the headaches that come with Thybulle’s freelancing style and occasional mental lapses.

While it remains to be seen where McDaniels fits in, it was more than clear where Thybulle did not. As precocious a defender as he can be, Thybulle’s value was limited by the damage he self-inflicted on the other end of the court.

Last postseason, opposing defenders made a habit of ignoring Thybulle even when he had the ball. There were moments when he harnessed his natural athleticism to make them pay, but there was an equal number of moments when he simply looked lost.

For a player as entertaining and visible as Thybulle was during his Sixers tenure, his departure feels somewhat anticlimactic. The next few months are where the real drama lies. They are a deeper and more sensible team than they were last season. The combination of James Harden and Joel Embiid has looked as potent as anybody could have hoped. Yet their 106-99 loss to the Celtics on Wednesday night did nothing to dispel the perception that something is still missing.

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They have now lost three of four games to the two teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference standings. With Harden a potential free agent and Embiid growing restless, it’s impossible to predict the changes another third-place finish might bring.