Hi All,

Happy new year! Coming to you today with a roleplayer trade that could greatly improve the Nuggets and the 76ers without touching any of their main pieces. Here’s an explanation as to why each team does this trade:

Nuggets:

The Nuggets make an upside play and trade for Thybulle in the last year of his contract. Only playing 10 minutes a game this year Mattise has been frozen out of the rotation as his spacing issues are too much of a negative for the 76ers to enjoy the benefits of his destructive defence.

A specialist player like Thybulle needs more attention paid to him than the average roleplayer, this trade see’s him arrive in the perfect situation offensively. Instead of spitting up in the corner waiting for Harden to sling it to him or Embiid to pass out of a double Thybulle’s elite athleticism is accentuated in the cutting system that the Nuggets employ, Thybulle can be a mini Aaron Gordon for the Nuggets. Get Jokic finding him close to the basket or on the break and he becomes a passable offensive player, particularly if he’s fielded in lineups with elite spacers like Murray and Porter jr. But the reason the Nuggets move for the Australian is his defensive impact. He’s insanely destructive off ball, pushing for steals and recording record per 100 numbers for blocks for a guard in previous season. Adding Thybulle gives the Nuggets an insane POA defender and one that adds rim protection, shielding the weaknesses of Jokic in a similar way to how Jokic would shield Mattise’s offensive shortcomings. Whether he’s playing 15 minutes a game or pushing for a starting spot in offence heavy lineups Thybulle is a specialist that the Nuggets could throw at elite permitter players.

I love this fit and for the price of a 2nd round pick it’s a no brainer for the Nuggets, adding specialist skills to their roster that they can accommodate better than pretty much anyone else in the league.

76ers:

As touches upon in the Thybulle piece I think he has the potential to be a super impactful player but not in the 76ers system, they’ve all but given up on him so why not send him out and get back a roleplayer with good size, a respectable 3 ball and some on ball juice that separates him from the 76ers current roleplayers. Burks is a solid roleplayer at 6ft 6 who’ll hold up in the playoffs on both ends. I like him to bolster 2nd units, getting guard touches when Harden sits and sliding to the 3 when the stars are on the floor. The additional 2nd and Mattise are a worthwhile sacrifice to deepen the 76ers rotation for the playoffs giving them the ability to cut the likes of House, Niang or Harrell if they’re off their game.

Pistons: Due to his recent recovery from injury and scarcity of 1st’s amongst contenders I don’t see the Pistons getting a 1st for Burks thus a return of 2nd’s in the upcoming draft and non negative salary is decent for a tanking Detroit.

Perhaps they can package Bogdanovic with Burks in search of a better return but I fear that would entail taking back bad salary.

Let me know what you think of this trade, is a Thybulle a good target for the Nuggets. Check out More Thinking Basketball for a video on Thybulle’s specific defensive impact if you really want to deep dive.