OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA – JUNE 22: Bennedict Mathurin #00 of the Indiana Pacers is defended by Alex Caruso #9 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first quarter in Game Seven of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center on June 22, 2025 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)
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INDIANAPOLIS – After bouncing in and out of the starting lineup for much of his first three seasons, Bennedict Mathurin will be the opening night starter at two guard for the Indiana Pacers in 2025-26.
So far in his career, Mathurin has been a part of the opening lineup in about 40% of his games. His second season was the only one in which Mathurin began the season as a starter, but Buddy Hield moved into that spot about a month into the campaign. Now, as Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle revealed on the Basketball, She Wrote podcast earlier this month, Mathurin will be the shooting guard in the opening five once things get rolling for 2025-26.
“I’ll break the news right here. I’m projecting him as our starter at [two guard] this year on day one,” Carlisle shared. He explained that he told Mathurin and his agent the news on the phone earlier in the offseason. “You’re going to be with the starters on day one. It’s your job to lose,” Carlisle told Mathurin.
It comes at a crucial time in Mathurin’s career. He’s entering the fourth and final season of his rookie scale contract, meaning he will be a free agent next summer. That is, unless he signs a contract extension with the Pacers in the fall – a possibility until October 20. Almost every 2022 first-round draft pick is eligible for a rookie-scale contract extension this offseason, with four players (Paolo Banchero, Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams) already agreeing to one.
That quartet has well-established roles with their current team, though. Mathurin does not. He has toggled between bench weapon and starter throughout his career, and he can score against just about anybody. His defense, particularly on the ball, is improving.
But his decision making and processing speed have always been roadblocks, and on a Pacers team that wants to lead the league in passes and play with pace, they are hurdles that have to be overcome. That has been the constant war during Mathurin’s career – being himself vs being what the Pacers system often requires.
“He saw a path to being a great player in the NBA that’s probably a little dated now… the game has just changed a lot,” Carlisle said. “Our job as coaches is to meld guys like him that aren’t necessarily seamless fits into a style that is effective for the rest of the guys and bring both forces hopefully closer together as time goes on.”
Indiana’s head coach, who received a contract extension recently, went on to say that Mathurin continues to make gradual improvements when it comes to quick decision making and believes the young guard will get to where he needs to be in that department. The next steps for Mathurin are running hard to the corners and stretching out a defense, Carlisle explained.
Those improvements, of course, will come on top of his natural gifts. “This is a part of [Bennedict] Mathurin’s game that we keep talking to him about. He’s a guy that is just a natural scorer. You put him in a rat game with a bunch of switching and a bunch of physical stuff, that guy’s gonna go find 18 points and he’s going to shoot seven free throws,” Carlisle said.
It isn’t unusual at all for a player to still be growing and adapting their play style in their fourth season. If anything, given how much change there is in the NBA, it’s expected. But for Mathurin, during an offseason during which he could receive a contract extension, it’s more notable. After next season, he’ll be a free agent. He has much to show on top of the scoring gifts he’s proven beyond a doubt that he possesses.
Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin (00) controls the ball against the Orlando Magic during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
Associated Press
Look no further than opening night of the 2024-25 campaign. After missing dozens of games to close his second season thanks to a shoulder injury, Mathurin returned for his third year and reminded everyone what he is capable of. In a narrow win over the Detroit Pistons, the Canadian pro had 19 points and six rebounds – it took him just eight shot attempts to do it.
What does Mathurin’s starting spot mean for his future with the Pacers?
Players who score a lot of points get paid well. 50 NBA players averaged 20 or more points per game last season – all but two of them (Austin Reaves and Coby White) are set to make $20 million or more in 2025-26 with the exception of players on their rookie-scale deals. With Cam Thomas still unsigned, the average salary of the non-rookie scale 20-plus point scorers from last season is over $40 million.
Mathurin has never reached 20 points per game. He’s never even achieved 17. But in his three seasons, he’s had Tyrese Haliburton as a teammate. In the coming season, a contract year for Mathurin, Haliburton won’t play. Haliburton’s absence is the reason that Indiana has an opening in the starting five for Mahturin – Andrew Nembhard will take over the lead ball handler spot.
Last season, Mathurin played 29.8 minutes per game and scored 16.1 points. His playing time should jump ever so slightly with his coming move into the starting five, though he did start 49 times in 2024-25. A slight bump in minutes won’t be enough for Mathurin to get his scoring average into the 20s. Haliburton’s injury could lift his numbers, though. Last season. Mathurin’s usage rate when he shared the floor with Haliburton was 21%, and that accounted for about 64% of his minutes. When Mathurin played without the star point guard, his usage rate climbed to 26.4%.
It’s plausible that Mathurin could see a usage jump and a minutes jump. How much those forces influence his scoring will be telling – both in a league where points per game has a strong correlation with salary and on a Pacers team that will look different this season. But those factors make the Pacers run into a wall.
If the Pacers and Mathurin look to find common ground on a contract extension now, then the team would be paying for what they hope Mathurin will do once Haliburton is back in two seasons. They have three years of production to base that value on. Indiana’s front office will want Mathurin’s salary and production to match – but that’s a tough estimate since it’s possible that Mathurin keeps ascending, but also possible his fit troubles remain.
Mathurin may not want to extend his contract now when a big scoring season, and thus a stronger negotiating position, could be coming his way ahead of restricted free agency. However, it’s fair for any talented youngster to be afraid of restricted free agency right now given the current offseason outlook for players like Jonathan Kuminga, Quentin Grimes, Josh Giddey, and Thomas. That quartet remains unsigned.
The Pacers also project to be somewhere between $20-26 million shy of the luxury tax line next offseason, and that’s before any trades or signings made during the coming campaign. It’s reasonable for the team to value flexibility and the crutch of restricted free agency over an extension with Mathurin in the ongoing offseason.
And the team may just not care how much Mathurin scores. Points are the objective of the sport and are obviously good. But for years, the Pacers have made it clear that they are trying to meld what they do well – execute with tempo, move the ball, and play randomly – with what Mathurin does well. The young guard is more of a face-up player. He’s been most comfortable when he has chances to catch the ball, turn to face the basket, and make a play against his defender.
He’s good at it. It works often. But Carlisle spoke about that balance on March 22, just two days after Mathurin willed the Pacers to a win with a 28-point, 16-rebound performance in an overtime win over the Brooklyn Nets.
“He’s making progress all the time. These last couple of games, we’ve needed him to get the ball, put his head down, and just go find a basket,” Carlisle began. “That’s not the best way for us to play overall. And one reason we got in those circumstances, particularly last game, was we had poor spacing, we weren’t cutting, we weren’t moving. And so we clogged the court up and threw the ball all over and hit the no smoking signs. Really. I mean, that’s what happened. And so we needed him to help bail us out.
“But we’re not going to win in the playoffs putting ourselves in those kinds of positions or putting him in those kinds of positions,” the head coach continued. “You guys have seen some of the stuff about our odds to win in some of these circumstances, this is not a way to make a living on a day-to-day basis.”
That’s why Mathurin’s starting job this season is full of intrigue. He’ll have more chances to score points, something he’s good at and something that has historically correlated with financial success. But the Pacers may be more interested in paying Mathurin if he continues to grow in other ways. His decision making – particularly when done quickly – his defense, and his overall ability to cut and get to open space in transition will be key this year.
Those traits will be more important for the blue and gold once Haliburton returns. So it’s up to Mathurin, who has rightly earned a starting spot coming into his fourth season, to find the right balance of the things that make him great and the things that make the Pacers great. Indiana will need him to score, and he should look to use his natural gifts often. But his added responsibility this season needs to come with improvement in other ways, too.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonyeast/2025/08/31/bennedict-mathurin-will-be-pacers-starter-what-will-it-mean-for-his-future/
