Following their first-round playoff elimination at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs, the Portland Trail Blazers enter the offseason with decisions regarding four free agents: Robert Williams III, Blake Wesley, Caleb Love, and Matisse Thybulle.
As ESPN's Bobby Marks noted in his offseason guide, Portland is in a good enough financial position to bring back Williams and Thybulle. Both veterans are eligible for up to a four-year, $87 million extension prior to June 30.
While the postseason showcased Williams' importance to this Blazers roster, unfortunately, the opposite can be said about Thybulle.
Matisse Thybulle didn't make a strong enough case to stick around
Thybulle averaged just 1.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 13.3 minutes per game in the playoffs. While the Australian wing has always been the type of defensive-minded weapon to make more of an impact on the game than his counting stats indicate, he was simply unplayable in this series for Portland.
Thybulle shot an abysmal 14.3 percent from the field and 9.1 percent from beyond the arc. Tiago Splitter gave the veteran too long a leash, as it was clear he didn't have it going all series. That was capped off with a 0-5 performance from deep in their Game 5 elimination.
A lot has to go right for Portland to be rewarded for any potential investment in Thybulle this summer.
He's become unreliable in the postseason, which is where we thought Portland could rely on the veteran's services the most. Additionally, he's quietly become one of the more injury-prone players in the league.
Thybulle has dealt with one injury after another since coming over to Portland during the 2022-23 season. He's unfortunately trending downwards in terms of availability, totaling 45 games played over the last two seasons.
In a perfect world, Thybulle would be the ideal veteran wing to keep around to bolster the Blazers' defensive identity. That's just not the reality of the situation, and Portland can't afford to risk the opportunity cost of keeping him around. At this point, they'd be better off giving Thybulle's role and minutes to younger two-way wings, such as Kris Murray and Sidy Cissoko, who have also struggled with spacing the floor but have much more room for development.
If the Blazers wind up keeping Williams around, they'll have to make difficult decisions elsewhere in order to clear roster space. Given Thybulle's age, contract, injury history, and now, poor postseason performance, there are just too many strikes against him to make a compelling case to stick around.
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