The Sixers added Jalen McDaniels and sent Matisse Thybulle to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of a four-team deal before Thursday afternoon’s trade deadline, a source confirmed to NBC Sports Philadelphia.
As PhillyVoice’s Kyle Neubeck reported, the Sixers in the trade sent out Thybulle and a 2023 second-round pick while receiving McDaniels, the Knicks' 2024 second-round pick, and the Trail Blazers' 2029 second-rounder. The Sixers officially announced the deal late Thursday night.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Thybulle made the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team in each of the last two seasons. He’s a preternatural gambler and exceptionally productive at picking up steals and blocks. The 25-year-old’s 2.7 steals per 36 minutes this season lead the league.
Thybulle was ineligible for games in Toronto last postseason because he was not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and had a disappointing playoffs overall. He began this season on the fringe of head coach Doc Rivers' rotation. Though he ultimately cracked it, the 2019 first-round pick rarely played extended minutes and averaged only 12.1 per game. Offense has remained a work in progress for Thybulle, though he felt he was approaching the game the right way.
“I think I’m in a good place confidence-wise,” he told NBC Sports Philadelphia on Wednesday night before the Sixers’ loss to the Celtics. “Finding places to impact the game offensively is always going to be a challenge with this kind of team, but I’m continuing to grow, find new ways and create new niches for myself.”
McDaniels is also a 25-year-old wing who’s been good at forcing turnovers this season. Per Cleaning the Glass, he’s in the 87th percentile for steal rate among wings and in the 90th percentile for block rate. Like with Thybulle, this will be the 6-foot-9 McDaniels’ first move from the team that drafted him. The Hornets took him 52nd overall in 2019 after he spent two college seasons at San Diego State. He'll be a free agent following this season.
NBA
McDaniels' off-court conduct was under scrutiny leading into the 2019 draft because two women filed lawsuits against him "accusing the San Diego State basketball player of using his phone to film them performing intimate acts without their permission and sharing the video with friends" while in high school, per The San Diego Union-Tribune. Though McDaniels was not charged, The Union-Tribune reported that he "admitted in court documents that he recorded both alleged videos, shared them with 'a small group of friends,' deleted them 'shortly thereafter' and has 'sincerely apologized (to both women) for the conduct.'"
McDaniels has played every game this year for the 15-41 Hornets and averaged a career-best 10.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists. He’s shot a career-low 32.2 percent from three-point range on 3.6 attempts per contest.
His younger brother, Jaden McDaniels, is a member of the Timberwolves.
Read more: Buyout market matters again for Sixers following Thybulle-McDaniels move