LOS ANGELES — The Lakers have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent Matisse Thybulle, a league source confirmed to the Southern California News Group on Monday morning, bringing the team’s roster to 16 fully guaranteed contracts once they add the defensive specialist wing.
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Signing Thybulle, 29, will require further roster moves, including a trade or waiving a player, in order to bring the Lakers’ roster down to 15 players by the time opening night rolls around in October.
Thybulle, who will be paid the veteran’s minimum ($3.3 million) ESPN first reported, has become widely considered one of the league’s best defensive players during his seven-year career since joining the league in 2019, earning All-Defensive second team honors in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
The 6-foot-5 swingman has shown versatility from 3-point range with an improved jump shot over time, converting the highest percentage of 3-point attempts (41.1% in 45 total games) across the last two seasons than at any other point in his career. Thybulle only played in 30 games off the bench for the Portland Trail Blazers last season, however, after he suffered a torn ligament in his left thumb that kept him sidelined for a chunk of the first half of the season.
Sorely missing a clear point-of-attack defender after veteran guard Marcus Smart signed with the Houston Rockets early in free agency, Thybulle gives coach JJ Redick a clear best defender on the floor for crunch time minutes – at a value contract for the season ahead. If Thybulle stays healthy, the Lakers have several players – along with guard Quentin Grimes and forward Ziaire Williams – who have shown, in spurts, their ability to defend at a high level.
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Thybulle has shown elite defensive tendencies, averaging 1.6 steals in 20.6 minutes per game, known for his high-deflection rates when on the court.
He began his career as the first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2019 NBA draft and would go on to start a career-high 50 games during the 2021-22 season. At the 2023 trade deadline, Thybulle joined the Trail Blazers in a multi-team trade. During the following offseason, Portland matched an offer sheet for a three-year deal to keep Thybulle on its roster.
Thybulle was an unrestricted free agent for the first time this offseason and chose the Lakers as his next destination.
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