The Portland Trail Blazers enter the Summer of 2025 with plenty of uncertainty surrounding their roster. Amid all the controversy and intrigue, 6’5 wing Matisse Thybulle remains relatively unscathed. He’s heading into the final year of his contract with a player option the only thing standing between him and free agency. Yet few people are talking about Thybulle’s value or the possibilities inherent in his position. Until now, that is, as we take this question from the Blazer’s Edge Mailbag.
Dave,
You mentioned Ayton, Simons, and RWIII hilariously but you left out the fourth member of the group, Matisse Thybulle. Matisse has a player option I know. Should we be hoping he opts out of it in order to clear playing time for younger guys and pocket the savings for the team? What value do you think he has?
Tiny
The big issue for Thybulle, of course, is 15 games played last season. He spent the first five years of his career pretty steadily, playing 65-71 games per campaign. 15 is a major drop. Because of that, he’s not likely to get a longer-term offer this summer. His $11.5 million player option may be the most he can reasonably expect until he takes the floor again and shows he’s fully healthy.
That’s not bad news for the Blazers. Thybulle can defend. He’s as good of a three-point shooter as anybody on the team. That’s not saying much, but at least Portland doesn’t lose shooting by putting him on the floor. At 28 years of age, he has more veteran savvy than most of his teammates. Even during limited duty, he showed a knack for getting to the open spot on offense, hounding the play defensively. He’s a fine player at a reasonable price.
The Blazers would be over the cap, under the salary tax threshold with Thybulle’s contract on the ledger next year. If he declined the option and walked away in free agency, they’d still be over the cap, under the threshold. Except for the bald dollar savings for ownership, Portland would gain nothing from Thybulle leaving. They’d need to wait until 2026—the year Deandre Ayton, Anfernee Simons, and Robert Williams III expire—to see any usable cap space from Thybulle’s salary slot.
That doesn’t mean the contract is valueless, however. Thybulle stands with Williams ($13.3 million) as one of two Blazers with middle-ground salaries who also might be tradeable. Everybody else in the trade queue either has a larger salary (Ayton, Simons) or isn’t someone the Blazers would move readily (Deni Avdija, Scoot Henderson). If Portland needs ballast to make any moves come July—or throughout the year—Thybulle could become a key to making a trade work.
For that reason, plus general on-court serviceability, the Blazers should hope Thybulle picks up his contract for next season. Portland can make the ultimate decision about his fate next summer, when the deal expires outright. Until then, they’ll have a chance to squeeze a little more value out of him, either on the hardwood or in trade.
Thanks for the question! You can always send yours to blazersub@gmail.com and we’ll answer as many as possible!