Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc River has conceded Matisse Thybulle’s lack of court time over the first two games of the regular season comes down to him falling down the pecking order in the rotation.
Thybulle, who holds dual American and Australian citizenship and was a member of the Boomers’ bronze-winning Olympic team, has previously played a key role in the Sixers rotation as one of the league’s premier wing defenders.
It includes the 25-year-old playing 20 and 25 minutes per contest over the last two seasons respectively and claiming All-Defensive Second Team honors in each campaign.
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However through two games this season, Thybulle played just 23 seconds in Philly’s opener against the Boston Celtics and then 18 seconds in Friday’s clash with the Milwaukee Bucks (all times AEDT) as the Sixers have fallen to 0-2 – albeit against arguably the best two teams in the Eastern Conference.
Rivers said the team’s off-season additions Danuel House and De’Athony Melton along with playing a smaller rotation have squeezed Thybulle out for now.
“It’s just the other guys,” Rivers said, per Sixers Wire.
“It’s a pecking order right now, but he’s working his butt off and he’ll play. He’ll get a chance to earn more minutes at some point for sure, but right now Danuel House and De’Anthony are in front of him.
“We’re going with a smaller rotation, but he’ll have a chance to earn minutes at some point.”
Thybulle, who’s averaged 4.7 points and 0.7 threes on 32 percent shooting throughout his career, showed offensive development over the pre-season, but a more crowded rotation with the starters playing big minutes will make consistent opportunities hard to come by.
It comes after the Sixers opted not to offer Thybulle a contract extension in the lead up to last Monday’s deadline, meaning the 2019 first-round pick will become a restricted free agent at the season’s end.
In the day’s leading up to the deadline, Thybulle’s representatives were reportedly in negotiations with the Sixers – negotiations described as “brief” by Yahoo Sports’ Chris Hayes.
“At the end of the day, you walk out onto the floor, you have to play, you have to perform,” Rivers said.
“It’s a performance business, and when you do that, everything takes care of itself.”
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