After trading their all star big man Domantas Sabonis to Sacramento and receiving back Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Heild, it was clear that the Indiana Pacers were looking to take the franchise in a different direction. After college averages of 14/5/2, the Indiana Pacers selected Bennedict Mathurin out of Arizona with the 6th pick in the 2022 NBA draft.
The Pacers selected Mathurin as a supplemental piece to young stars, Tyrese Haliburton and Chris Duarte for future hopes at an NBA championship. Through 23 games, the Pacers sit at 12-11 and have been a surprise team 1/4th into the season. They currently are top 10 in points per game(9th) and assists per game(5th) in the association.
Appearing in every game in this rookie campaign, Mathurin is averaging 19.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting 43.4% overall and 40.3% on 3-pointers. Coming into the season Mathurin had raised some eyebrows after his pre-draft interview with the Washington Post where Mathurin said this of the Legend Lebron James, “A lot of people say he’s great. I want to see how great he is. I don’t think anybody is better than me. He’s going to have to show me he’s better than me.”.
One thing the rookie hasn’t lacked is confidence and it started before he even suited up. He had a chance to face Lebron and the Lakers on a November 28th matchup where he contributed 23 points and 8 rebounds off the bench for their 5th road win of the season in dramatic fashion. Mathurin’s best game of his rookie season came against Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets as he posted a team high 32 points.
The NBA currently has Mathurin #1 atop the 2022-2023 Kia Rookie Ladder and the Pacers sit at 6th in the Eastern Conference. He has had a feel for the game that is advanced for only being a rookie and the pacers are really reaping the rewards for his talent.
