Defense wins championships, they say. It also creates roster crunches, and the Lakers just walked facefirst into one.
Los Angeles has agreed to sign defensive wing Matisse Thybulle to a one-year, $3.3 million veteran minimum contract, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported. The move had been telegraphed for a week — the Lakers have been hunting 3&D wings to slot around Luka Dončić, and on paper, Thybulle is exactly that. Two-time All-Defensive Team selection, most recently in 2022. A perimeter stopper who spent years in Philadelphia getting benched in the playoffs because nobody had to guard him. Then he got to Portland and started shooting — 43.8% from three two seasons ago, 39.8% last year. The offensive liability label started peeling off.
Here’s the catch, and it’s a big one: Thybulle played 45 games total over those two seasons. He missed time last year after thumb surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament, and knee and ankle problems have been chronic. The Lakers are betting minimum money on a player who, when healthy, profiles as a genuine bargain. That “when healthy” is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
But the signing’s real drama isn’t about Thybulle’s knees. It’s about the number 16.
That’s how many standard guaranteed contracts the Lakers now carry, and the NBA allows 15 once the regular season begins. Every single one of those 16 deals is guaranteed. Someone has to go — traded, waived, or stretched — before opening night. And the list of candidates reads like a front-office puzzle with one piece that doesn’t quite fit.
Luka Dončić is not getting moved to solve a roster crunch. Write that down in pen. Jarred Vanderbilt is on a negative-value contract; moving him would cost draft capital the Lakers don’t have to spare. Dalton Knecht, the No. 17 pick who looked promising before his failed trade to Charlotte, is available — the Lakers have shopped him this summer. Jake LaRavia, owed $6 million in the final year of his deal, has drawn more interest from teams. Jaden Hardy is a scoring guard on a team already drowning in scoring guards. Adou Thiero impressed at Summer League and is cheap, which makes him the kind of asset you keep.
And then there’s Bronny James.
LeBron James remains a free agent. At least five teams — Cleveland, Miami, Philadelphia, Golden State, and Minnesota — are still openly pursuing him. Until he signs, the assumption lingers that Bronny eventually follows his father to wherever that is. The Athletic has reported that a father-and-son reunion next season is not guaranteed, but nobody has ruled it out either. And here’s the cold math: Bronny is on a minimum salary. It is almost always easier to move a minimum-salary player than a $6 million one. He got real rotation minutes in the playoffs, but only because the Lakers were ravaged by injuries. He has shown defensive upside and nothing — nothing — offensively that suggests he’ll ever be a plus on that end.
The Lakers have also talked with Atlanta about a sign-and-trade for Jonathan Kuminga, though the sides aren’t close. A two-for-one deal would solve the roster problem on its own. But if that doesn’t materialize, the question becomes blunt: How much do the Lakers value Bronny James without LeBron James in the building?
If Bronny sticks and someone else gets moved, that’s an answer. If the Lakers ship him out to clear the spot — to his dad’s next team, or anywhere else — that’s a different answer entirely. Either way, the Thybulle signing just put a clock on the decision. The Lakers have months. They don’t have many options.
Sources
- Yahoo Sports — Lakers reportedly sign Matisse Thybulle to one-year minimum contract
- CBS Sports — The Lakers are signing Matisse Thybulle, which creates a roster crunch a Bronny James trade could solve