Bennedict Mathurin's career with the Indiana Pacers could be on its last leg, but the team may have given him a lifeline. With Andrew Nembhard taking on a bigger offensive role next season and likely taking a backseat on defense, this will give Mathurin a great opportunity to showcase his worth on that side of the ball and prove that he is a long-term contributor in Indiana.
Recently, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic spoke about Nembhard on the "Game Theory Podcast" and questioned how his role is going to look next season. Vecenie also noted that, since he may not be as good of a defender now that he is going to utilize much more energy on offense as the team's primary point guard next season, this could be a chance for Mathurin to take on some of that responsibility, which would pay dividends for him and the team.
"The big question for me is, does he continue to be the great defender having to take as much offensive load, or do they try and shift some of that responsibility...Can you convince Benn Mathurin to just give crazy energy on defense on the ball at times?" Vecenie said.
Defensive improvements could save Bennedict Mathurin's Pacers career
Mathurin is currently eligible for a rookie-scale contract extension, but it does not seem that he is going to get it as the Pacers are not committed to him just yet. Furthermore, the Canadian native is considered to be a legitimate trade candidate, largely because of his questionable fit in Indiana's system.
While Mathurin has shown that he can be a great player, his bread and butter is his iso scoring. Considering that Indiana relies heavily on fast-paced ball movement on offense, this lowers his and the team's ceiling because they just don't mesh well.
There is a lot to like about Mathurin, and his scoring abilities rank among the top reasons. However, one of the biggest concerns about the 23-year-old potentially staying in Indiana for the long haul is that he has not shown much value beyond his scoring.
While he has improved, the Arizona alum is not much of a defender. This makes things even more difficult for the Pacers to justify committing to him long-term, especially if it is going to put them close to or into the luxury tax threshold. Luckily for him, he will have a chance to change this narrative next season, and it might be what saves his Pacers career.
In an August appearance on "The Fan Morning Show," head coach Rick Carlisle spoke about how important it will be for Mathurin to improve as a defender.
"He's going to be guarding a lot of great players. With Tyrese being out this year and Nembhard moving to point, Andrew Nembhard guarded the best perimeter player almost always. It was either he or Nesmith. But with Tyrese out, that's going to put Andrew on different matchups, sort of organically. And now Benn is going to be guarding some better players, so it's going to be a great challenge," Carlisle said.
Mathurin does not necessarily need to turn into a lockdown defender (though that would greatly help his case, of course), but if he can show more effort or even just a little bit of development, he will give Indiana another reason to keep him around.
With an expanded role next season as the Pacers' starting shooting guard, Mathurin will have a great opportunity to prove that he belongs with the team. Plus, with Nembhard potentially slipping as a defender next season, Mathurin can step up and help fill that void, which would make it much more difficult for the team to move on from him.