The Philadelphia 76ers drafted Zhaire Smith last year. He was a great defender that had room for improvement on offense. After he was brought back from his injury he spent some time in the G-League with the Delaware Blue Coats. The Philadelphia 76ers in this draft made a similar drafting this year. They picked Matisse Thybulle with the 20th pick. The Sixers moved up to get him so they like him a lot. He fits that mold as a defender without an offensive game like Kawhi Leonard was and Leonard eventually developed an offensive game. The Sixers hope that Thybulle will also be able to develop a game on that side of the ball. They hope he will become a great two-way player. This drafting is a project and he may not see much playing time early in his career.
Deal is agreed on — and Sixers will send Boston Nos. 24 and 33 in this draft, league sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/XM7bHrkNH7
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 21, 2019
Draft Grades for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2019 NBA Draft
Matisse Thybulle
During the rookie years of his career, Thybulle will be out there for defense and defense only for the Philadelphia 76ers. He is the best defender in the draft. He will help the Sixers with their quest to draft players that can stay in front of wings in the NBA. His senior year he averaged 3.5 steals and 2.3 blocks per game. Thybulle has a knack for getting his hands on the ball on defense that the Sixers can use. He is able to block the ball with great consistency and he is not even a center. On offense, he will be able to slash to the hole and finish at the rim. This skill for him is not that great but he showed the ability to do it in college.
Also, he showed some ability to knock down a three-point shot. In his first year in college, he shot 36.6 percent from three. In his second year, he shot 40.5 percent from three. His junior year he shot 36.5 percent from three and his senior year he saw a significant drop off from three when he shot 30.5 percent. There is hope for him as he has shown the ability to shoot 40 percent from the three-point mark at least one full college year. Yes, Cam Johnson went inexplicably at 11 but this pick could have been used on shooting to spread out the court for Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.
Draft Grade: C
Marial Shayok
Marial Shayok was one of the best players in the Big 12 last year. At Virginia, in his first three years, he wasn’t as good as he was at Iowa State. His best year at Virginia he averaged 8.9 points per game but at Iowa State, he was able to average 18.7 points. Shayok showed the ability to do everything on offense in his final year in college. He was able to play in transition, create his own shot off the dribble and be a star player in that offense.
He has a 7’0 wingspan that he will be able to use on defense to get into passing lanes that will help create transition opportunities on offense. A 7’0 wingspan also helps him stay in front of players on defense and make things hard for opposing player when they have the ball. Shayok may see some time in the G League but this was a good pick nonetheless.
Draft Grade: B
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