The Indiana Pacers had a chance to trade Myles Turner last season before he left the team in free agency. This was the right call at the time, but Indiana should keep this in mind as it deals with a similar situation with Bennedict Mathurin.
The Pacers' Bennedict Mathurin situation is a familiar story
It's not exactly the same situation, but the Pacers can draw comparisons between this season's Mathurin situation and last season's Turner situation.
Both players were in the midst of a contract year (though Mathurin is a restricted free agent next summer) with their future in Indiana a bit uncertain. Nobody knew for sure whether Turner was going to re-sign or not, and it still remains unclear whether the Pacers are going to trade Mathurin or just wait to make a decision in the offseason.
Ultimately, Turner departed Indiana after 10 seasons and joined the Milwaukee Bucks, which left a major hole in the team's starting lineup as they had to scramble to replace him.
It wasn't the wrong decision then, and it's not the wrong one now. But it's fair to wonder how differently things would have gone if the Pacers had traded the Texas native last season before losing him for nothing.
There likely wouldn't have been much leverage given his contract situation, but getting something in return for Turner obviously would've been better than losing him to a division rival for nothing, which is what happened. And as everybody knows, he was essentially a no-show in the NBA Finals last season, so it's not like they would have missed him much anyway.
As the Pacers deal with Mathurin's impending restricted free agency, it would be worth it for the team to keep Turner in mind.
Given that the Canadian native is going to be a restricted free agent, it gives the Pacers a better chance to keep him around as they can match any contract offer he receives. However, the team has avoided the luxury tax for two decades, and as it stands, it seems like they may want to continue that trend past this year.
If Mathurin's market becomes too robust, Indiana may ultimately choose to let him go. This is especially true given that the team is still unsure what his long-term role is going to be. They shouldn't bump someone like Aaron Nesmith out of the starting lineup for him, but it would also be tough to justify keeping him on the bench if he's making potentially $25 million per year after this season.
The trade deadline is a few months away, and the Arizona alum will be a name worth monitoring. Indiana could realistically trade him for a center upgrade this season (which they are reportedly aiming for) and just avoid the potential headache of his restricted free agency in the summer, but Mathurin also just might be too good a player to move on from for mostly financial reasons.
Indiana has a decision to make, and it needs to make it soon. It's probably in the team's best interest to keep Mathurin around, sign him to any deal in the offseason regardless of the price, and just figure it out moving forward. However, a lot of Mathurin's situation is similar to Turner's, and everybody knows how that saga ultimately ended.