The contract details for Bennedict Mathurin reveal a great deal for the New Orleans Pelicans.
The New Orleans Pelicans finalized the signing of their two-year deal with Bennedict Mathurin recently. The contract details were just revealed, and they show a fantastic deal for Joe Dumars and the Pelicans' front office.
Spotrac's Keith Smith released the following terms for this deal, with the second season being a player option, and they are a bit lower than what was anticipated:
2026/2027: $7.5 million
2027/2028 player option: $7.8 million
With these terms, New Orleans would still have a remaining $7.5 million in the non-taxpayer mid-level exception and be $4 million under the luxury tax, per Smith. They don't have any room left on the roster, but they could pair another contract (like Jordan Poole's) with some assets to pull off another move this offseason should they want to.
First and foremost, this is a fantastic contract for Dumars and the Pelicans. Perhaps the best bit of business they have done so far as a leadership group. No matter what, turning a little bit over $7 million of investment into Jordan Hawkins for this season into $7.5 million for a much more effective player is a win. Obviously, they shouldn't have had to move Hawkins' contract at all, but no need to dwell on that any longer.
At worst, Mathurin is going to be a higher-ceiling scorer and better baseline defender than the players that New Orleans would have given his minutes to otherwise.
This should be looked at as a one-year deal in all reality. If the 24-year-old is taking that $7.8 million option next season, something went really wrong. He should probably be making more than $7.5 million in this campaign, but that's just how the market landed. Now he's taking a risk on himself.
Mathurin is essentially auditioning for a bigger contract from this team next year, as they'll have a good bit of money open up ahead of free agency and are already infatuated with his potential.
That $7.5 million mark for this year could also have an impact on the few weeks remaining in the offseason, as the Pelicans do now potentially have the space to make another move in an effort to make this team even better ahead of the start of the campaign.
It would be a bit of a shock to see them put together a very impactful move so quickly, but never count anything out with this front office. It's still early in their tenure and they are still winning people over, but this was a step in the right direction.
