Doc Rivers talks Sixers adding Jalen McDaniels, losing Matisse Thybulle
PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers made a move on Thursday shortly before the deadline when they sent Matisse Thybulle to the Portland Trail Blazers that netted them Jalen McDaniels from the Charlotte Hornets in a four-team deal.
The Sixers are moving forward now and hoping that McDaniels can help them on both ends of the floor. He is a long defender and he is somebody who can defend the opposition’s best scorer while also providing something on the offensive end.
Coach Doc Rivers is looking forward to employing him on defense and continuing to grow the team on that end.
“Just his athleticism,” Rivers said of McDaniels. “He’s multi-positional. Watching film, he’s guarded 1 through 4 and sometimes 5, the team’s 5. He has great hands, a great roller, a great rebounder, other than that, not much, but that’s what we’re hoping.”
As far as McDaniels going from a rebuilding team to one that is making a push for a championship, Rivers laid it out very clearly for him as they come together with this group.
“You clearly tell him what the expectations are here,” Rivers laughed. “That’s literally the first thing you do. Just to let him know without saying anything about the other team. You just tell him ‘I know where you’ve been, but we have high expectations. Not only on the court, off the court, but everywhere.’ 9.9 out of 10, that’s a very good thing for players to hear so he’s very excited.”
When it comes to Thybulle, he now joins the Blazers where he looks for s fresh start and an opportunity to grow. Rivers was asked if he had plateaued, but he doesn’t think so.
“I don’t know that,” he stated. “I think Matisse is gonna be—he’s still young. He has a chance to be a better player. There are things he has to work on. Just being more consistent, his shot obviously, but he’s putting in the work. We did that for a different reason. Not because he’s plateaued. He’s too young to have plateaued.”
