According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the New Orleans Pelicans just signed Bennedict Mathurin to a two-year, $16 million contract with a player option in the second year. Now, he’s joining a situation in which there are few expectations. That’s why the Pelicans could give Mathurin what the Indiana Pacers never could during his time there. But there’s a catch.
Mathurin isn’t the only player who will be fighting to break out next season. Even though New Orleans won’t be gunning for a playoff spot, they have a ton of youngsters. Derik Queen. Jeremiah Fears. Even guys like Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy III. Mathurin will be an important piece, but if he wants the touches and shots he needs to develop, he’ll need to beat out those guys, too.
There’s a reason the Pacers were willing to include Mathurin in the trade that landed them Ivica Zubac. And now, Mathurin is heading to the Pelicans, where he should have more freedom than ever. But he’ll have to beat out those young pieces in order to maintain.
Bennedict Mathurin will have to establish himself among Pelicans youngsters
When he was with the Pacers, Mathurin was an important piece of the puzzle. But realistically, the Pacers didn’t seem to trust him as much as his minutes wavered up and down. And when the Pacers went on their run to the NBA Finals in 2025, Mathurin’s minutes took a major dip. He only played 17.5 minutes per contest during that run.
Obviously, the biggest difference between the Pacers teams Mathurin was playing on and these current Pelicans is expectations. One team was gunning for championships. The other, not so much.
The Pacers certainly weren’t one of the top teams in the league last year, but they were dealing with awkward circumstances. The Tyrese Haliburton injury. Even so, the Pacers ended up trading him.
Now, he’ll look to fit in with the rest of the young pieces in New Orleans, and a lot of them will look to be focal points of the new-look Pelicans offense. Queen and Fears will likely be the primary offensive options, but Mathurin will want to fit in, too.
That’s his new challenge. Mathurin will have more freedom than he did in Indiana. But it won’t come easily. New Orleans has already invested a year into Queen and Fears (and years into Williamson).
The Pelicans are clearly fans of Mathurin. They believe in him. But Mathurin will have to prove he’s worthy of taking touches away from Fears and Queen.
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