Bennedict Mathurin Signs Two-Year Contract With Pelicans

Mathurin’s two-year deal with New Orleans is said to feature a second-year player option.

The Pelicans created the financial and roster flexibility necessary to complete their agreement with Mathurin when they traded Jordan Hawkins, Micah Peavy, a second-round pick and a second-round swap to Memphis in exchange for AJ Johnson and Taj Gibson. New Orleans subsequently waived Gibson, who was included in the deal for salary-matching purposes.

Mathurin had been a restricted free agent, but his representatives reportedly approached the Clippers about withdrawing his $8.8MM qualifying offer, which made him unrestricted and freed him up to sign directly with New Orleans without having to complete an offer sheet or a sign-and-trade deal.

July 13 was the deadline for a team to unilaterally rescind a restricted free agent’s qualifying offer, but Los Angeles was still able to take that route with Mathurin’s consent throughout the offseason.

Mathurin, who drew interest from the Bulls, Bucks, and Mavericks earlier this summer, reportedly received longer-term offers that featured more overall money, but preferred a shorter-term deal that will allow him to reach unrestricted free agency as early as next offseason. The Pelicans had been pursuing Mathurin for over a year, per ESPN’s Shams Charania, and the hope in New Orleans is that the 24-year-old will be a significant part of the team’s young core moving forward.

A native of Montreal, Quebec, Mathurin spent two college seasons at Arizona prior to being selected sixth overall in the 2022 draft. He played for the Pacers for three-and-a-half seasons before being traded to the Clips in February as part of the Ivica Zubac blockbuster.

Mathurin averaged 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 28.0 minutes per game over the course of 26 outings (one start) for L.A. last season.

Those numbers weren’t much different from the ones the 6’5″ swingman posted in 28 games for the Pacers to open the 2025/26 campaign (17.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.3 APG), though his three-point shooting fell off significantly in Los Angeles, from 37.2% on 5.6 attempts per game to 20.7% on 3.2 tries per contest. He was a career 34.2% three-point shooter entering last season.

Mathurin has shown the ability to be a dangerous scorer, though his jump shot can be hit and miss. He’s at his best when he’s getting to the free throw line, where he has made 83.8% of 5.1 attempts per game over the course of his four-year career. His play-making remains a work in progress, as he has compiled more career turnovers (502) than assists (500).

After signing Mathurin, the Pelicans now have 14 players on guaranteed standard contracts, with Trendon Watford on a partially guaranteed deal and Kobe Bufkin, Caleb Houstan and Christian Koloko on non-guaranteed pacts for training camp. They also have guard Jaron Pierre Jr. and forward Malik Dia on two-way deals, with one roster spot (and one two-way slot) still open.