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All-Defensive Trail Blazers Standout Picks Up Player Option

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Alex Kirschenbaum | Last updated Jun 24, 2025 4:09 PM ET

The Portland Trail Blazers' 2025-26 roster is slowly taking shape.

The team made a surprising big-money move on Monday, reportedly acquiring two-time All-Star and six-time All-Defensive Team guard Jrue Holiday from the Boston Celtics in exchange for sharpshooting combo guard Anfernee Simons and a pair of future second round draft picks.

Holiday, now 35, was actually first traded to the Trail Blazers in the team's blockbuster deal to ship nine-time All-Star point guard Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks in the offseason of 2023. But Holiday was quickly rerouted from the win-later Trail Blazers to the win-now Boston Celtics, and claimed his second NBA championship that season.

To guarantee Holiday's interest, Boston inked him to a four-year, $134.4 million contract extension.

Last year, Holiday averaged 11.1 points on .443/.353/.909 shooting splits, 4.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists, regressing as a shooter and defender due to a lingering mallet finger injury. Ailments to Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Boston All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown ultimately doomed the club's title defense, and Boston fell in six games to the New York Knicks during a second round upset.

Now, it's become clear that a veteran Portland mainstay is taking the money to stick around.

Sources inform NBA insider Chris Haynes that two-time All-Defensive Team shooting guard/small forward Matisse Thybulle, who has barely played during his tenure in Portland, will pick up his $11.5 million player option for next year. It's far more than he would have fetched on the free agent market this summer.

Portland Trail Blazers defensive specialist Matisse Thybulle is opting into his $11.5 million player option for the 2025-26 season, league sources tell me. pic.twitter.com/zbjk5O4aDS
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 24, 2025

The 6-foot-5 swingman out of Washington, 28, appeared in just 15 games during the team's 2024-25 season, averaging 7.5 points on .477/.438/.567 shooting splits, 3.5 rebounds, 2.2 steals, 1.9 assists and 0.6 blocks in 20.8 minutes per.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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