76ers exercise option on Thybulle

Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey announced today that the team has exercised the 2021-22 third-year contract option for Matisse Thybulle.

Thybulle, who is in his second NBA season, was selected by Boston with the No. 20 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft before Philadelphia acquired his rights in a trade. Last season, he appeared in 65 games (14 starts), tallying 4.7 points, 1.6 rebounds and a rookie-best average of 1.4 steals in 19.8 minutes per game. Thybulle’s 93 total steals were 31 more than the next-closest NBA rookie a season ago, while his 47 blocks ranked fourth among first-year players. He was one of just nine players league-wide to post at least 90 blocks and 45 steals during the 2019-20 season and only the 10th rookie to reach such marks since 2000. As a first-year pro, Thybulle scored in double figures five times, including a career-high 20-point outing on Dec. 8, 2019 vs. Toronto, during which he made five three-pointers.

A four-year player out of the University of Washington in his home state, Thybulle capped his collegiate career by securing the 2019 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award and earning his second consecutive Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year honor. He tallied 331 total steals in his four seasons with the Huskies, breaking the Pac-12 record previously held by Hall of Famer Gary Payton.