Bennedict Mathurin Agrees to Deal With Pelicans, Ending Wild Free Agency Chase

Bennedict Mathurin is heading to New Orleans. The former Indiana Pacers lottery pick has agreed to a two-year, $16 million deal with the Pelicans, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, ending a monthslong restricted free agency saga that dragged through the summer and pulled in half the league.

Mathurin was the sixth overall pick by the Pacers in the 2022 NBA Draft and spent his first three-plus seasons in Indiana before being shipped to the Los Angeles Clippers in February as part of the trade that sent Ivica Zubac to the Pacers. That made him a restricted free agent this offseason, and the Clippers extended an $8.8 million qualifying offer to retain his rights. Multiple teams, including the Bulls, Bucks, Mavericks and Pelicans, spent weeks checking in, but New Orleans emerged as the frontrunner in the final stretch.

How the Pelicans Got Their Man

The mechanics of the deal are almost as notable as the destination. Mathurin’s representatives approached the Clippers about withdrawing his qualifying offer entirely, a move that would clear the way for him to sign directly with New Orleans without Los Angeles retaining any matching rights. Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported the Clippers had not formally pulled the offer as of Wednesday morning, but indicated LA intends to cooperate and get the sign-and-trade mechanics ironed out so Mathurin lands with the Pelicans as planned.

It’s a resolution that had been building for weeks. HoopsHype reported as far back as mid-August that New Orleans, Chicago and Milwaukee were the most engaged suitors, with the Pelicans specifically described as having shown “recent interest” and maintaining dialogue with Mathurin’s camp dating back to before the February trade deadline. The Clippers, for their part, added Bradley Beal and Max Strus to their wing rotation this offseason, developments that steadily complicated the path back to Los Angeles for the 24-year-old.

What Mathurin Brings and What Comes Next

Across 54 combined games with Indiana and LA last season, Mathurin averaged 17.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists, continuing the scoring trajectory that made him the Pacers’ third-leading rookie scorer in franchise history. He’s a downhill driver who gets to the free-throw line at a high rate and has shown flashes of three-level scoring, exactly the kind of secondary shot creator a Pelicans roster in transition can use heading into next season.

The timing sets up an immediate storyline: New Orleans opens its season by hosting Indiana on October 21, meaning Mathurin will face his original team in his very first game wearing a Pelicans jersey. For bettors tracking early-season NBA win totals and player prop markets, that opener just became appointment viewing, and it’s worth keeping an eye on FanDuel Promo Code offers as sportsbooks roll out fresh markets around season-opening storylines like this one.

The deal still needs to be formalized through the sign-and-trade process, but barring a late complication, Mathurin will suit up for his third team in as many years, a fast-moving career arc for a player who hasn’t turned 25 yet. For a Pacers front office that watched him develop into a rotation scorer before trading him mid-season, and a Clippers team that never quite locked down a long-term answer at the position, the swingman’s free agency saga ending in New Orleans closes one chapter while opening a new one worth tracking all season. Fans looking to DraftKings Promo Code offers ahead of opening night will find plenty of early markets forming around both teams as training camps get underway.