PORTLAND, OREGON - MARCH 26: Matisse Thybulle #4 of the Portland Trail Blazers runs up the court ... [+]
Restricted free agent wing Matisse Thybulle isn’t going anywhere. Thursday morning, the Portland Trail Blazers matched the offer sheet the Dallas Mavericks extended to Thybulle. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Dallas offered him a three-year, $33 million contract with a player option worth $11.5 million in the third year.
According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, the Mavericks offered Thybulle a very favorable deal. Along with the third-year player option, Thybulle would receive a 15% trade bonus, $2.6 million payable 14 days after the league approved the contract and another $2.6 million on October 1.
Thybulle always intended to sign the offer sheet from Dallas. However, since he is a restricted free agent, the Blazers have the right of first refusal, allowing them to match and offer another team extended to him. Portland had no intentions of letting him go.
Since the opening days of free agency, opposing teams knew how Portland felt about Thybulle. NBA insider Marc Stein reported that both the Blazers and Boston Celtics, who recently dealt forward Grant Williams to Dallas in a sign-and-trade, were letting teams know their intentions to match any offer for their restricted free agents.
“The Blazers and Celtics have been sending behind-the-scenes signals to interested teams that they intend to match any offer sheet for Thybulle or Williams, respectively,” Stein wrote.
Last season, Thybulle appeared in 22 games with the Blazers after the Philadelphia 76ers traded him to Portland in a massive four-team deal. He averaged 7.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.7 steals in 27.7 minutes.
Dallas was interested in signing Thybulle for his perimeter defense, where he is known to be a disruptive presence. He has career averages of 4.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.8 blocks.
Although the Mavericks didn’t land Thybulle, they still have all or most of their Mid-Level Exception to sign other free agents — depending on how it structures its existing contractual agreements with free agents.
The Mavericks still need to address holes on the perimeter, especially after trading Reggie Bullock to the San Antonio Spurs as part of the three-team deal that netted them Williams.
