After two seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, Klay Thompson reached a buyout agreement and chose to sign with the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Miami Heat. This is good for Thompson, as he is given the chance to be a real contributor for a team fighting for a championship, but for the Mavericks, they lost a solid scorer on Jason Kidd’s bench. Last season, Thompson averaged nearly 12 points per game, and with him gone, Dallas will need someone to look to.
The answer is a player they have shown interest in: Bennedict Mathurin, an extremely talented scorer who is still a restricted free agent. He’s patiently waiting for someone to swoop him up for the right dollar amount, and following the departure of Thompson, that could very well be the Dallas Mavericks.
Additionally, Mathurin, 24, fits right into the Mavericks’ core of young players, including Cooper Flagg, Max Christie, Morez Johnson Jr., and so many more.
Bennedict Mathurin would be perfect for the Dallas Mavericks following Klay Thompson’s exit
Despite being so young in his career, Bennedict Mathurin has the ability to score the rock at an extremely high level. He can shoot from various distances, drive to the cup using his strength, draw fouls with a sixth sense in anticipating contact, and get to the mid-range as he pleases.
We saw it all last season, and with the LA Clippers, he was their lead sixth man, averaging 17.4 points and 2.5 assists on 42.6% shooting in 28.0 minutes per game.
On paper, there is no better fit on the market for the Dallas Mavericks’ system than Mathurin.
For context, their current bench consists of Marcus Sasser, Derrick Lively II, Naji Marshall, Santi Aldama, Morez Johnson Jr., and Zaccharie Risacher.
Is this bad? Not at all. The Mavericks’ second unit has plenty of potential, experience, and youth to produce on both ends of the floor.
But Mathurin would take them from good to elite with everything he offers on the offensive side of the ball.
All the Mavericks would have to do to bring the former lottery pick to Dallas is either offer him an amount the Clippers won’t be willing to pay, which is realistically anything above $15 million annually, or execute a sign-and-trade.
That said, Mathurin to Dallas makes the most sense after the Mavericks lost Klay Thompson. He is a scoring upgrade and much younger, which is what they want.
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