Quick thoughts on Bulls interest in Bennedict Mathurin

The pros and cons of going for the former No. 6 pick

I thought that the Bulls were probably done in free agency, but it looks like they might have one more move up their sleeve. They still have the $9.4 million room exception to work with, and they may be using it to target Clippers restricted free agent Bennedict Mathurin.

“Basically, I’ve been told that in Bryson Graham, Bennedict Mathurin has a significant fan,” Stein Line’s Marc Stein told the CHGO Bulls show on Wednesday.

Mathurin, the No. 6 pick in the 2022 draft, is a talented scorer. He’s averaged 16.2 points per game over his four years in the league.

Here are the pros and cons of his game and what I would do if I were the Bulls.

Bennedict Mathurin strengths

Mathurin’s best strength is probably his elite foul drawing. He was the best wing in the entire league at drawing fouls last year, outpacing old friend DeMar DeRozan in the No. 2 slot. When he gets a head of steam going towards the rim, he’s probably going to get some free throws out of it.

That ability to get to the rim makes Mathurin a very good scorer and effective in transition. The Bulls do need players that fit into those boxes.

Mathurin also has a ton of confidence in himself. He dropped a bar as a rookie.

“A lot of people say [LeBron is] great. I want to see how great he is. I don’t think anyone is better than me. He’s going to have to show me he’s better than me.”

Mathurin has some untapped upside. He was not a good fit in Indiana’s system, which relies more on quick decision-making and ball movement than his go-get-a-bucket skillset. I honestly did not watch enough of his 26 games with the Clippers to have an educated opinion on if that changed or not after he was traded.

Bennedict Mathurin weaknesses

Mathurin is somewhat of a one-trick pony. He’s an effective driver, but he has tunnel vision on those plays. He is only looking to score, and he misses some pretty easy passes as a result. He hasn’t been a particularly good as a finisher or efficient on shots outside of the paint.

That low feel is not limited to only his drives. He’s not a good team defender, due to that inability to anticipate what opponents are doing.

Mathurin also isn’t a great shooter, hitting 33.6 percent on 4.0 attempts per game on his career. He’s going to be a negative spacer when he doesn’t have the ball, which fits in with several other Bulls and will make life harder for Caleb Wilson.

I think it’s now fair to say that Graham doesn’t mind poor historical shooting given the players he’s targeted in the draft and free agency and his comments post-draft that shooting is a skill that can be improved.

The lack of secondary skills has showed up in Mathurin’s advanced stats, where he grades out poorly. His -1.6 DPM ranks 391st in DARKO, about the same as Guerschon Yabusele.

What I would do

I think that it is very smart for the Bulls to target restricted free agents. They will have a ton of cap space again next summer, and they should be even more aggressive with that strategy for guys like Anthony Black, Scoot Henderson, Jamal Shead, and Cason Wallace.

Mathurin isn’t the right guy to use that strategy on, unless the price is pretty low. My salary model has him at an $8.4 million valuation next season assuming he plays 65 games. He could sign his $8.8 million qualifying offer and earn more than that, meaning that whatever team gets him is likely going to overpay.

Mathurin is an extremely poor fit for a roster that is already facing a dearth of shooting options. If Chicago could get him at that price, I could at least understand the theory behind going for a talent swing.

If the Bulls need to acquire Mathurin through a sign-and-trade, I would not give up any significant assets in that trade.

Mathurin would be the type of move that I would make if it fell into my lap. I generally stray away from one-dimensional scorers that don’t do anything else.

If the Bulls do pass on Mathurin, they leave the door open to use that room exception mid-season and pick up an asset from a team desperate to shed salary (the Nuggets being the primary example). That is probably a better use of that exception.