The 2025-26 Portland Trail Blazers season unofficially begins Monday, when the team holds its annual media day at the Moda Center.

The rebuilding Blazers return most of the key young pieces from a roster that overachieved in the second half of last season, when the team went 23-18 to surprisingly finish with 36 wins.

But there are some new faces. A franchise icon is back. One of the best perimeter defenders in the league is joining the rotation. And a young Chinese phenom has arrived in the United States.

What will the Blazers look like in 2025-26? In an effort to bring you up to speed, we’re providing a daily snapshot of the roster as media day approaches. Next up: Matisse Thybulle.

Let the countdown to the 2025-26 season begin.

MATISSE THYBULLE

Measurables: 6-foot-5, 201 pounds

Age: 28

Position: Guard/forward

2024-25 stats: 7.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.2 steals, 1.9 assists

NBA experience: This will be his seventh NBA season

Contract status: Thybulle is entering the final year of a three-year contract that will pay him $11.6 million this season

Expected role: Backup wing

Outlook: After missing the first 67 games of the 2024-25 season with knee and ankle injuries, Thybulle was a menace down the stretch, teasing the impact he can make on a team determined to make defense its calling card. The lanky, off-ball pest was a menace over the final 15 games, snatching 33 steals, blocking nine shots and generally wreaking havoc on the perimeter of the Blazers’ defense. He had the game-sealing block in a win over Toronto, corralled five steals in a win over Washington and had a three-steal, two-block night in a loss to Golden State. He occasionally drifts away from his man in pursuit of a big play and has been known to go rogue in the Blazers’ system. But he also creates defensive chaos. And unlike Kris Murray, Thybulle is a capable long-range shooter. Thybulle shot 43.8% from three-point range during that 15-game tease, making 11 of 21 over the final six games. Unless Murray takes a significant step forward in his third NBA season, Thybulle seems poised to lock down a spot in the Blazers’ rotation.

Previous entries: Rayan Rupert … Blake Wesley … Duop Reath … Damian Lillard … Jrue Holiday … Jerami Grant … Shaedon Sharpe … Scoot Henderson … Yang Hansen … Deni Avdija … Donovan Clingan … Robert Williams III … Kris Murray … Toumani Camara.

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