The Portland Trail Blazers will keep Matisse Thybulle around going forward. On Wednesday, Thybulle agreed to an offer sheet with the Dallas Mavericks that would pay him $33 million over the next three seasons, and because Thybulle was a restricted free agent, the Blazers had two days to make a decision on whether or not they’d match it and bring him back.
One day later and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reports that Portland will, indeed, match the offer and keep Thybulle around its core of young, talented guards.
The Portland Trail Blazers are matching restricted free agent Matisse Thybulle’s three-year, $33 million offer sheet with the Dallas Mavericks, sources tell ESPN. Sheet was signed and received in Portland this morning. pic.twitter.com/5WEqjCO18w
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2023
It’s not a huge surprise that the Blazers would want to keep Thybulle, whose defensive versatility is an excellent fit alongside the Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, and Anfernee Simons. Add in the fact that he was a pretty solid three-point shooter when he got to Portland last year — he connected on 38.8 percent of his attempts and 41.5 percent of his corner threes — and this is a sensible bet for Portland to make.
As for the Mavericks, they were able to find a three-and-D option that can slot alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving elsewhere in the restricted free agency market. It was reported on Wednesday night that the team was part of a three-team trade with the Boston Celtics that saw them land Grant Williams, who will join the Mavs on a 4-year, $53 million deal.