Atlanta Hawks: 5 Reasons to Draft Matisse Thybulle in 2019 NBA Draft

Defense

Of course, statistics aren’t everything, but in the case of Matisse Thybulle, they back up exactly what the eye test conveys: Thybulle is just an incredibly good defender.

With excellent length, superb hands and supremely swift feet, Thybulle is a menace on the defensive end with a propensity for producing highlight plays with regularity. Often, Thybulle will pick a pass clean that zoom to the other end of the floor for a highlight-reel dunk, as he memorably did in the Pac 12 Tournament:

Thybulle’s size and length allow him to contest a multitude of jump shots in the midrange and from three, he is fully switchable across at least four positions and his perfect timing in the passing lanes means that not even easy looks are quite that easy.

Thybulle fights through screens, has a nose for the ball and employs amazing defensive anticipation to know when to time his jump to block jumpers.

Now, it must be noted that Thybulle does play in a zone defense setup for the Washington Huskies, which allows him to gamble constantly on the defensive end, which might’ve inflated some of his steals and blocks numbers throughout the season.

But with his tools and his feel, it seems extremely unlikely that four years of proven college production on the defensive end won’t translate to at least a solid level in the NBA – especially with his athleticism and smarts.