The Warriors have been looking for a defensive stopper in the backcourt and NBA trade rumors say they could find the answer soon.
Gary Payton II played a small but crucial role for the Warriors during their championship run. At 29, he finally found an NBA home, carving out a niche with relentless defensive at the point of the attack, savvy off-ball cuts and thunderous transition dunks.
Payton II signed with the Portland Trail Blazers in the offseason and the Warriors have been missing someone to fill that same role this year. But it looks like help could be on the way.
The real upside here of this hypothetical trade is that the Warriors is that they could probably land Thybulle without having to give up James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga or Moses Moody. They might have to roll in Andre Iguodala for salary-matching purposes but Iguodala, JaMychal Green and a pair of second-round picks might be enough.
If the Warriors wanted to really roll the dice, they could try to entice Philly into Donte DiVincenzo, Green and a pair of seconds for Matisse Thybulle and Shake Milton.
What could Matisse Thybulle do for the Golden State Warriors?
Thybulle is the same kind of elite backcourt defender as Payton II, someone who can lock down a variety of defenders and put all of his energy into harassing ball-handlers the length of the floor or chasing shooters through a maze of off-ball screens. He’s fallen out of the 76ers rotation because of his offensive struggles but those should be mitigated somewhat in Golden State.
Payton II had similar offensive challenges but integrated himself into the Warriors because of the amount of movement they embed in their offense and the offensive gravity of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. He was an excellent finisher and with constant motion and smart cuts he could be a positive for the Warriors’ gravity.
Thybulle is often relegated to being a standstill spot-up shooter around the ball dominance of Joel Embiid and James Harden. That’s the worst-case scenario for him with his shooting problems but he’ll be in an entirely different situation with the Warriors and it’s not hard to imagine him being able to contribute in similar ways.
Thybulle alone doesn’t change the fortune of the Warriors but he could help a lot and make everyone else’s jobs easier as they look to defend their title.
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