Portland beefs up defense with Matisse Thybulle deal

Matisse Thybulle made the All-Defensive second team each of the last two seasons but fell out of the rotation in Philadelphia. Now he's joining a Portland team that's 26th in the NBA in defensive rating. 

With the return of Gary Payton II and the addition of Thybulle, the Blazers have a chance to dramatically improve on that end.

The Blazers don't want to waste a spectacular year from Lillard, who has won the last two Player of the Week awards in the Western Conference. But Lillard and backcourt partner Anfernee Simons aren't your ideal point-of-attack defenders. Thybulle gives them options. He may not be a shooter, but Portland doesn't want him to shoot anyway.

For Philadelphia, the benefits were obvious. They weren't playing Thybulle anyway, and now they can look at a different young wing option in Jalen McDaniels, and get under the luxury tax. To be clear, Jalen's brother, Jaden McDaniels will not be leaving Minnesota by this deadline.

Portland may not have future plans for Thybulle or Cam Reddish beyond this season. But they got younger and more athletic, and when it's "Dame Time" in the playoffs, anything can happen.