The New Orleans Pelicans were reportedly major suitors for Los Angeles Clippers restricted free agent guard Bennedict Mathurin at last year's trade deadline.
The New Orleans Pelicans could have their big move of the offseason sitting in front of them, as previous interest in Los Angeles Clippers restricted free agent Bennedict Mathurin has been resurfaced.
NBA insider Marc Stein reported on Sunday that the Pelicans were the team with the strongest trade interest in Mathurin at last year's deadline. That means that Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver are at least interested in him as a talent and could make sense as a free agency destination.
It would take utilizing current salaries in other trades or manufacturing a sign-and-trade, but it wouldn't be too surprising to see the Pelicans front office take a big swing for a talent they like.
Mathurin is an interesting talent. There have been people championing him as a potential star scorer since college, and there have been flashes of that, but he hasn't been able to sustain it consistently.
The Indiana Pacers drafted Mathurin with the No. 6 pick in the 2022 draft. That's the level of expectation that there was for him as an off-ball threat. He, at least theoretically, has deep range with his jump shot and can fly to the rim. He is the type of athlete that every NBA team wants to have.
The scariest thing for New Orleans, a team that wants to figure out the defensive side of the ball first, is that Mathurin's defensive impact has been equally inconsistent as his offensive output. By the numbers, he's had three years of about equal net rating change when he's off the court and two seasons where the defense was noticeably worse with him there.
In the Pelicans' new system, though, with some buy-in, it's not hard to imagine him being a positive defender. He needs to have more active hands on defense, and he certainly has the athletic ability to have more of an impact at the rim.
Last year, in a sixth-man role for the Clippers, Mathurin put up 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals on 42.6/20.7/85.8. He is volume over efficiency, which a team can account if the shots are somewhat quality and the points actually get put on the board.
If New Orleans does go after the guard, he would essentially replace what Jordan Poole and Jordan Hawkins currently present on the roster. While he's not a homerun pick, it would be easier to get excited about the potential of what he could bring as opposed to the reality of what fans saw last year with the current guard depth.
Mathurin does make sense as a long-term fit with Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen at just 24 years old, especially if the three-ball can come around. The Pelicans could get away with a shorter-term "prove-it" deal for the guard this late into free agency and hope to parlay that into a longer contract in the future if things work out.
They would also need the deal to be one that Los Angeles does not match, would could require a sign-and-trade.
