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With LA Clippers, Bennedict Mathurin has something to prove
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- With LA Clippers, Bennedict Mathurin has something to prove
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INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Indiana Pacers traded away Bennedict Mathurin to the LA Clippers at the NBA trade deadline in a package including Isaiah Jackson and a couple of first round picks. In return, the Pacers received Ivica Zubac , a player they'd been coveting since the surprising departure of Myles Turner in free agency.
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It was a high price to pay — aside from the draft compensation — for a Pacers team that drafted Mathurin sixth overall in the 2022 NBA Draft and saw his scoring prowess on display nightly. As an athletic, three-level scorer, Mathurin should be able to fit in seamlessly onto a Clippers team that desperately needs his scoring punch.
"It's been great so far," Bennedict Mathurin said after his second practice with the LA Clippers on Wednesday afternoon. "You know, I think we have great guys on the team. Everybody is pretty familiar with my game. So it kind of helps a lot. I think that there's still a lot more to do and still a lot more to learn with the system, offensively, defensively, and especially off the court as well."
As great as he has been in his young career, Mathurin was also struggling to receive consistent playing time in Indiana. Whether it was because of Rick Carlisle's system or simply the need for more catch-and-shoot abilities around Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton , Mathurin saw his minutes fluctuate over his last season with the Pacers.
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Mathurin played under 15 minutes in nine of the Pacers' 23 playoff games last season and eclipsed 30 minutes in a game just once over the entire postseason run. Now that he's shifted to a new team with a bigger need for his scoring abilities, playing time isn't something he foresees being an issue.
"I think it's just about me being myself," Ben Mathurin added . "I just feel like Ty Lue is going to give me the chance to really go out there and play my game without any restrictions. So, I think that's the biggest, that's the biggest jump is going to be for me, especially playing with with great players like Kawhi and [ Darius Garland ] and the rest of the guys on the team, which is going to allow me to short even more."
Bennedict Mathurin came out of college touted as a high-flying, athletic scorer, and at 6-foot-5, has the ability to be a good defender. That end of the floor is something Mathurin is looking to prove he can do at a high level.
"I'd just say my aggressiveness. I think that [there are some] wrong narratives about me, that I can't play defense. But people, the people that need to know I play defense, know that I play defense. So, just going out there and doing my job on that end of the floor and just being there for my teammates."
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The last two weeks for Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson have consisted of being traded from Indianapolis to Los Angeles , flying to L.A. to have physicals done, meeting the team in Minneapolis, but not debuting until the team reached Houston for a back-to-back set. Mathurin and Jackson then had the All-Star break to collect themselves before getting back to Los Angeles for practice on Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of a back-to-back set on Thursday and Friday.
"It's been a lot, man. Like you said, the past two weeks has been trade. It's been an All-Star break, and then coming back over here. So, super, super grateful to really get going for the second half of the season.
"There's no challenges at all [with the trade], man. Like I said, I'm super grateful to come and be in the NBA and play, so now it's just about what I can do to go out there and just being the player that I want to be and the player that the team needs me to be in order for us to win so it's just about living and learning."
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In 239 career regular season games, Bennedict Mathurin has averaged 16.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists while shooting 44.3 percent from the field. Mathurin was having a career season with the Indiana Pacers prior to the trade, averaging career-highs in points (17.8), rebounds (5.4), and assists (2.3).
The LA Clippers will kick off their post-NBA All-Star break schedule with a back-to-back set against the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers . Bennedict Mathurin's new team doesn't leave the state of California for two weeks, with five home games and the only road games being at the Lakers and at the Warriors .
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