As the Philadelphia 76ers continue with their draft preparation for the 2021 NBA draft on July 29, we look back on some past drafts as we lead up to this one from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
In this edition, we look back at the 2019 draft in which the Sixers moved up to select Matisse Thybulle out of Washington. Philadelphia held the 24th pick, but it had its eyes on Thybulle all the way. They made a trade with the Boston Celtics to move up to No. 20 to select him.
Thybulle was immediately thrown into the rotation, and he made a huge impact out on the defensive end of the floor. He showed flashes on offense, but his defense blew everybody away. For being such a young player, he came in and he made an impact getting into the passing lanes to get steals and he shut down some of the game’s top scorers.
He followed that with an even more impressive second season during which he hopped off the bench and averaged 2.9 steals and 2.0 blocks per 36 minutes. That type of effort landed him on the All-Defensive second team despite averaging only 20 minutes per game. He was a huge spark for Philadelphia, and he made life miserable for opponents in terms of trying to find some clean looks on offense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWozzO5VALs
Thybulle will have to continue to add to his offensive game to become a fixture on the Sixers, but he has a good start due to already being one of the elite defenders in the game. If he gained more minutes, which would come with a more consistent offensive game, he would probably be in the running for Defensive Player of the Year.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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