Bulls Among Teams Eyeing Bennedict Mathurin

One of just three teams to go under the cap and use cap room this offseason, the Bulls have since used that space to acquire Nic Claxton, sign Norman Powell, and extend Zach Collins. They’re now right up against the cap and – barring additional roster moves – would only have the $9.4MM room exception available if they want to sign Mathurin to an offer sheet.

A two- or three-year offer starting at $9.4MM is unlikely to dissuade the Clippers from matching, so the Bulls may need to go the sign-and-trade route if they want to make a legitimate play for Mathurin.

While Chicago would presumably prefer to move off Patrick Williams‘ three-year, $54MM deal in a sign-and-trade scenario, the Clippers or a potential third team would likely have far more interest in players like Isaac Okoro ($11.8MM), Jalen Smith ($9.4MM), and/or Tre Jones ($8MM), none of whom are owed guaranteed money beyond the coming season.

It’s unclear how serious the Bulls are about Mathurin, but they could probably use a little more offensive punch even after adding Powell and drafting Caleb Wilson and Dailyn Swain. Chicago ranked 29th among 30 teams in offensive rating after the trade deadline last season, then lost Collin Sexton and Anfernee Simons in free agency.

Acquired by the Clippers from Indiana as part of the Ivica Zubac trade in February, 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 his new team. Those numbers weren’t much different from the ones the 6’5″ swingman posted in 28 games for the Pacers to open the season (17.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.3 APG), though his three-point shooting fell off significantly in L.A., 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.

The Clippers tendered Mathurin a qualifying offer worth approximately $8.77MM in June, making him a restricted free agent. He could accept that offer at any time, which would give him trade veto rights in 2026/27 and make him eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2027, but it’s safe to assume his preference would be to work out a multiyear contract with either L.A. or another team.

The Clippers’ offseason business has been held up to some extent by the fact that the Kawhi Leonard trade won’t be finalized until after the NBA completes its investigation into whether the team circumvented the salary cap to funnel additional money to the star forward.

L.A. has still been able to complete minor moves – like Tuesday’s Johni Broome deal – while waiting for resolution on Leonard, but the front office may want clarity on that situation before doing anything more significant, such as signing Mathurin to a long-term contract or taking on salary in a sign-and-trade.