Report: Sacramento Kings are ‘monitoring’ Matisse Thybulle’s availability ahead of February 9th trade deadline
Lost in the shuffle of the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl run, the NBA trade deadline is quietly creeping up on February 9th.
The Philadelphia 76ers had their seven-game winning streak snapped last night after blowing a 21-point lead to the Orlando Magic on their home court. Still, the Sixers are primed for another run at an NBA Title, and currently sit in third place in the Eastern Conference Standings at 32-17, just a half game out of the second seeded Milwaukee Bucks.
Unlike the trade deadline last year when the Sixers moved Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, and Andre Drummond to Brooklyn for James Harden, this year will almost certainly be different. Smaller moves could be in order with the goal of putting the Sixers below the luxury tax threshold.
The Sixers are roughly $1.1 million above the luxury tax line and the focus could be moving a player like Furkan Korkmaz or Matisse Thybulle in order to clear some money.
According to Marc Stein via his substack, the Sacramento Kings are “monitoring” Matisse Thybulle’s availability as the trade deadline approaches.
“Sacramento is said to be monitoring the availability of Philadelphia’s Matisse Thybulle as the Kings, unexpectedly holding the West’s No. 3 seed after a league-record 16 consecutive seasons out of the playoffs, ponder the pursuit of a more defensive-minded option on the perimeter. One source with knowledge of the Kings’ thinking, meanwhile, insists that rival teams hoping for Richaun Holmes to become a buyout candidate if Sacramento can’t trade him (as mentioned here last week) are poised to be disappointed. A buyout would be complicated for both sides with two years and nearly $25 million left on Holmes’ contract after this season.”
Acquiring Richaun Holmes from the Kings is certainly enticing and all things considered, the Kings are willing to move him. The Sixers of course, could definitely use a more reliable backup center.
Still, I would much rather keep Thybulle instead of trading him just to clear money. His perimeter defense is elite and offensively, he has shown some signs of growth this season, even if there’s still a lot left to be desired.
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