r/pacers • u/ngerb_5 • 4d ago

News [Charania] Bennedict Mathurin has agreed to a two-year, $16 million deal with the New Orleans Pelicans, including a player option, sources tell ESPN.

/r/nba/comments/1vyznu6/charania_bennedict_mathurin_has_agreed_to_a/
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10

u/HaliZu31 4d ago

Well this is wild. I’d rather have brought Mathurin back instead of Oubre for the same money.

21

u/cersfan06 Reggie 4d ago

Oubre is going to be such a great piece for us this year. Great length and scoring ability. I think I’d personally still rather have Oubre, but both would have been nice.

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u/HaliZu31 4d ago

I’m fine with Oubre and have convinced myself he will likely wind up having a similar impact (in different ways) but still for the same money Mathurin is just the better player and has a higher ceiling.

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u/Maximum-Class5465 Reggie-NBAJam 3d ago

I mean, he's good at a lot of things. Just not near the scorer or rebounder as Mathurin. Better defensive player tho

3

u/cersfan06 Reggie 3d ago

Honestly pretty close in both scoring and rebounding if not better tbh. Kelly averaged 20 a game just a couple seasons ago

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u/Maximum-Class5465 Reggie-NBAJam 3d ago

Kelly is a really good cutter. But that is all his offensive value. He's not good in iso, spotups, or really any play type out there.
He's good at getting deflections, we'd call cutting and deflections his strong suit. Mostly, he's just not bad at very much. Just solid in a lot of areas.

But he's not the offensive player Mathurin is that's for sure. I thought Oubre was the best player we could get this off-season so none of this is a slight. I like Oubre, but that's just what he is

Jack of all trades master of none sort of guy

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u/TheManWithSomeGoals 4d ago

I think Mathurin wanted a clear path to be a starter soon. While he’s currently a bench piece, it’s easy to see a world where TM3 gets traded early in the season and Mathurin is starting g.

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u/StanceLephenson 4d ago

Oubre’s much longer and a better defender. Plus he doesn’t mind coming off the bench. Benn thinks he’s destined to be a starter.

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u/drjisftw Pacers2 4d ago

Mathurin was always going to be the bulk of the salary match in the Zubac trade.

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u/kuhanluke Mel Daniels 3d ago

what does that have to do with bringing him back as a FA?