It was hard to fathom how a franchise like the New Orleans Pelicans, coming off a season that left them 11 games shy of the play-in, had not made a significant splash during the off-season. They’ve chosen to address it now, at a moment when free agency is winding down, with a move that, while it could yield a modest short-term benefit, doesn’t fully explain itself. Bennedict Mathurin has become the Pelicans’ latest addition, signing for 16 million dollars across two years.
The trick lies in the second-year player option. Those eight million dollars per season sit below Mathurin’s market value, given that he declined to take his $8.8 million qualifying offer from the Clippers as a restricted free agent. The most likely scenario is that he will spend only one year at this salary, leaving the Pelicans obliged to overpay in the following season.
However, according to Shams Charania, the guard/forward has been on New Orleans’ radar for more than a year. They believe he is pivotal to pushing their young core to the next level, so they may feel comfortable offering him the mid-level exception a year from now.
Mathurin, who left Indiana under something of a cloud after not fully meeting the expectations his rookie year had raised, finished the season with the Clippers on an uneven note. The 26 games he played there mark the period of his career with the lowest shooting efficiency, though the sample size is too small to draw firm conclusions.
