Everything you need to know about the Pels’ latest dart throw.

The ability to draw fouls at a high frequency makes for an incredibly strong pillar of offense to lean on; Mathurin’s physicality playing through contact allows him to use the charity stripe as an easy path to get an impactful footing into a game. Not only can his downhill ability be attributed to such seasons of staggering free-throw rates, but he has the craft in his bag to — grifting (non-derogatory use) through sweeping, selling contact and shot fakes to trigger whistles.

Mathurin’s strength brings about unique opportunities in offense, where in grenade situations he can be relied on to turn what has a chance of being an empty possession into getting foul shouts out of it.

On top of the steady uptick in free throw rate, Mathurin’s rim-finishing has seen positive development in the last two seasons.

Consistency as a two-point scorer is a real factor that could swing Mathurin’s development in the right direction; being a more physically imposing downhill attacker will cover the blemishes of a more inefficient scoring profile.

As a matter of fact, Mathurin has already proven to be quite potent in transition, getting the most out of his skillset in the open floor. Something that could be congruent with what needs to be a heavily transition-dependent Jamahl Mosely offense this upcoming season for the Pels.

Those are the main drivers of Mathurin’s offensive value. That same physical strength in his game translates into impact stats, with team free-throw value increasing when Mathurin is on the floor — unfortunately, that’s almost entirely where his team impact ends.

Mathurin’s elite free-throw rate and impact in team FT value are the only items covering up his offensive inefficiencies.

Though he’s a confident and willing shot-taker, and at times a microwave shot-maker — the lapses in his particular shot selection inform a majority of these inefficiencies.

These are mostly self-inflicted wounds, and his gravitation toward tougher shots stems from low feel, being funneled into all-or-nothing drives (the nothing is a result of not being fouled), his lack of off-ball merit, and a shakier three-point shot.

According to bball-index.com, Mathurin’s overall shot quality in his 2024-25 season with the Pacers ranked in the 27th percentile and in the 2025-26 season in the 17th percentile.

I highlighted the season before the last specifically because he played with a creator like Tyrese Haliburton; the openness of shots taken should be of higher quality. In fairness, Mathurin didn’t always play next to Hali. There were spurts where Mathurin was the main scoring option in a 5-man unit, and his shot quality suffered.

I think Mathurin’s time with a transcendent playmaker like Tyrese Haliburton can inform us on how connective Bennedict Mathurin can be.

In the 2025 season, when the Pacers made their electrifying run to the Finals — Haliburton’s two-man combos with the most minutes logged, his pairing with Mathurin posted a mediocre +1.1 net rating.

Though Mathurin was much better with Haliburton than without him, the Pacers didn’t succeed as a team the same way they did when Nesmith replaced Mathurin.

Is it fair to compare Mathurin to Nesmith one-to-one, when a movement shooter like Nesmith fits the Pacers’ preferred system and gels extremely well next to a pass-first playmaker like Haliburton?

No, however, it emphasizes what kind of player Mathurin is.

Bennedict Mathurin’s aforementioned lack of feel and his abysmal or non-existent playmaking, along with discouraging spot-up shooting, make it really difficult to get positive value out of him.

The playmaking is what is most concerning; Mathurin’s deficiencies in setting the table for his teammates often back him into a corner of taking the poor shots I highlighted earlier.

Though his higher on-ball frequency generates more foul shots, it also prohibits the ball from moving.

A player who requires a heavier on-ball dosage to be viable, without the ability to get defenses rotating with any passing capability, is more often than not an impediment to the offense.

Sound familiar Pels fans?

That, sadly, has been Mathurin through the first 4 years of his career and is bluntly shown in the scatterplot below.

Mathurin falls well below average in potential assists created per 100 possessions, while having a heftier on-ball % within his role — displaying what was clear on top, he’s not a willing passer and most of the time defers to tougher shots instead of creating good looks for his teammates.

When he does choose to pass, it’s often home-run-type passes attempted instead of simple processing and reads, and it’s why Mathurin is in the 14th percentile in bad pass turnover % over the last three years, and 7th percentile this past season according to databallr.com

That offensive archetype can pigeonhole a coach’s rotations and your playstyle, and limit the ways you can use a player.

He demands touches to be effective, but more often than not those touches aren’t fruitful, especially for the rest of the offense.

This plays a tremendous factor for a Pelicans team that has this player mold up and down their roster.

The Fit

As I mentioned, the Pelicans will need to rely heavily on transition offense and a high pace to build a proficient offense, because the half-court issues will loom large.

The playmaking volume the Pelicans have on their roster is either right on that mean line in the graph or below it.

Meaning offensive problem-solving and dynamic playmaking are severely lacking in this roster construction. That combined with a historically poor offensive coach in Mosley will lead to uglier possessions.

That’s why I’m dubious of Mathurin’s fit with the Pelicans; he’s another streaky scorer who requires on-ball reps in isolation and/or pick-and-roll that don’t provide what the Pelicans truly need.

The spacing and playmaking issues for the Pelicans have yet to be solved. Though Mathurin can be a semi-reliable bench scoring option by replacing players of lesser value, there are still no tangible, ancillary skills to fill the gaps.

Defensive Reality

Though Bennedict Mathurin has been a formidable positional rebounder over the course of his career, with a 13.1 defensive rebound percentage over the last three seasons that ranks in the 73rd percentile… much more is left to be desired as a defender.

My main concern is in his steal production and overall ability to force turnovers/deflect passes.

On the 2025 Pacers squad, Mathurin ranked dead last per 100 minutes out of all the qualifying players in their rotation. If the Indiana Pacers, who were atop the NBA in pickup distance and thrived deploying extended ball pressure to force turnovers — and Mathurin could not generate steals in that environment.

With a 12th percentile STOP% and 17th percentile steals per 100 possessions over the last three seasons, I have low confidence that Jamahl Mosley’s defensive tactics will increase his steal production in New Orleans.

Mathurin has shown flashes of point-of-attack competence, grading out as a B+ in bball-index.com’s Perimeter Isolation Defense metric, and it was evident to me in all the games I watched that he can slide his feet on an island.

Where he suffered on that end of the floor was in screen navigation and checking out off the ball, getting burnt with poor closeout technique and being late to rotations from going on autopilot when he’s two passes away. Perspective in the Deal

I understand that wasn’t a very hospitable welcome, and that you were incredibly critical of a player making $8M AAV who wasn’t signed to solve all of New Orleans’ problems.

I firmly believe this is another sign of the kind of player this front office prefers, and it gives us insight into their roster-building philosophy.

Acquiring talent comes first, and fit falls by the wayside.

It’s less of an indictment on Mathurin and more of an indictment on the bigger picture the front office is trying to paint — I know, what a shocker that’s the stance I’m taking.

Almost as much as I believe that, I think that Mathurin’s contract was well-executed. No sign-and-trade was required, the price was certainly fair, and the Pelicans didn’t have to dump second-round picks to acquire him.

Putting that in perspective makes for a reasonable justification for this signing. Hopefully, Mathurin’s lump sum of on-ball reps over the years will positively bolster his development in a pleasant surprise.

Some of the unconnected dots, such as passing, spot-up shooting, or stock production, are absolutely vital developments for the Mathurin signing to be a REAL win in my book.

At the end of the day, it’s a dart throw on a player who will ideally take on a bench scoring role, replacing Jordan Hawkins and Poole, who had some major lows last season. Plus, Troy Weaver has made worse dart throws trying to rehab depleted or semi-depleted lottery picks into quality NBA players.

With all that in mind, things are looking up in New Orleans?

I wouldn’t go there for the laundry list of reasons above, but it’s been worse too.

Be sure to follow me on X @giddhoops for all things Pelicans!