Less than a week after the Indiana Pacers traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of the Ivica Zubac deal, Bennedict Mathurin took to Instagram to send a message to his former team, the city, and the fanbase.
And it seems like it's all love from the Canadian native.
"Forever grateful
Thank you to the Pacers organization, the city of Indy, and the fans who showed love from day one.
Thank you for believing in me, drafting me, and giving me the opportunity to grow, compete, and represent this franchise.
This chapter showed me great life lessons, growth, battles and amazing memories. I’ll always carry them with me.
To my teammates, coaches, staff, and everyone behind the scenes: thank you for pushing me to be better every single day.
On to the next chapter. 🙏🏾
Love Benn," Mathurin wrote on Instagram.
Last summer, the Pacers chose not to sign Mathurin to a rookie-scale contract extension, which meant he is set to hit restricted free agency this upcoming offseason. All of this led many to wonder what his future in Indiana had in store as the team had to decide between paying him potentially $20-$30 million a year or moving on from him entirely.
We ultimately got our answer last Thursday, and now, the Pacers will look to navigate through life without the Arizona alum.
Was trading Bennedict Mathurin the right call for the Pacers?
This is a tough one.
On one hand, it made a ton of sense for the Pacers to trade Mathurin. Nobody knew if he was going to be a long-term starter or bench player, which would have made it incredibly difficult for Indiana to gauge how much it was willing to pay him. Plus, the concerns about his fit were fair. He is a ball-stopper on a team that relies on pushing the tempo and moving the ball around, and he doesn't provide a ton of value as a defender or playmaker.
However, Mathurin is also incredibly skilled as an isolation scorer, and he brought a unique skillset to the Pacers. His ability to put the ball on the ground and get his own buckets (while being able to score at all three levels) made him very valuable to Indiana. He may not have been a seamless fit in the system, but if the offense ever went stagnant or the team needed a quick bucket, chances were that Mathurin could get the job done.
Trading Mathurin was likely more of a case of needing to give something to get something. The Pacers were in desperate need of a new starting center, and Zubac was probably the best big man realistically on the market.
It was always expected that the Pacers would have to offload Mathurin if they were serious about trading for a new center, and that's exactly what happened. Only time will tell if this was the right call, but as it stands, there are more reasons to believe it was than it wasn't.
Mathurin is incredibly talented, and one of my concerns for the Pacers was that they would trade him just for the sake of not having to pay him in the summer. But they got a legitimate asset in return in Zubac and addressed their biggest problem.
Even if Mathurin turns out to be a stud for the Clippers (which he probably will), this was a deal Indiana had to make. And if all goes well, this could be one of those rare win-win trades where everyone involved is happy.