There were a lot of things wrong with the Los Angeles Lakers last season that the front office is going to try and correct this offseason. Los Angeles already hired a new head coach in Darvin Ham and is hoping that he can maximize Russell Westbrook on this roster.
One area that the Lakers should be putting a lot of focus on this offseason is the defensive side of the basketball. It is no coincidence that the two teams in the NBA Finals ranked first and second in defensive rating. Rob Pelinka needs to be doing everything he can to get respectable defense back in Los Angeles, especially after letting Alex Caruso walk for free last summer.
There certainly are options on the market to improve the Lakers defensively and the Philadelphia 76ers are now reportedly shopping perhaps the best possible option for the Lakers. According to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Matisse Thybulle is one of several players that the Sixers are shopping this offseason.
Thybulle would be absolutely wonderful in Los Angeles. He was consistently the one guard in the league who was putting up a better Defensive Box Plus/Minus than Alex Caruso when Caruso was with the Lakers. Thybulle is very similar to Caruso in that regard as he is not a huge offensive threat and is merely a role player but is an elite perimeter defender.
If the Lakers are trying to replace what Caruso brought to the team then they should look no further than Thybulle. He is not as polished as Caruso is as a shooter but if the Lakers were able to turn Caruso’s shooting around then they could do the same with Thybulle.
Can the Lakers actually trade for Matisse Thybulle?
If we are talking about if it is possible then yes, it is. Thybulle is only making $4.3 million next season and the Lakers can absolutely bring him in and have the contracts to dole out to make that happen.
The question then becomes if it is likely and that answer is no. The Lakers simply do not have a lot to offer to the Sixers, who are going to get better offers than just Kendrick Nunn or Talen Horton-Tucker. Thybulle’s value might be low after a tough postseason that saw him miss every Toronto game because of vaccine requirements, but the team will still get better offers than that.
The Lakers’ only real hope is if they were to trade a future (heavily protected) first-round pick to bring Thybulle to Los Angeles. If Rob Pelinka and co. are unwilling to trade a first-round pick to move off of Russell Westbrook then they likely are not going to trade a first-round pick to trade for Thybulle, as promising as he is.
So just like Caruso, Laker fans are going to have to see Thybulle potentially get traded to a different team this summer and think what could have been if he was just wearing the purple and gold.