Clippers Made the Right Decision on Bennedict Mathurin

The writing was on the wall for restricted free agent Bennedict Mathurin when the LA Clippers drafted Keaton Wagler, traded for Max Strus, and re-signed Bradley Beal this summer. The abundance of shooting guards on the roster meant that there was simply no room for Mathurin.

Therefore, the Clippers have been engaged in sign-and-trade talks with teams around the league. However, there wasn't much interest in the 24-year-old swingman. The most recent reporting by NBA insider Jake Fischer revealed that the only team interested in Mathurin was the New Orleans Pelicans.

This meant that it was either signing with the Pelicans or playing on his $8.8 million qualifying offer for Mathurin.

Clippers Will Not Regret Letting Bennedict Mathurin Sign With the Pelicans

On Wednesday, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that Mathurin is headed to the Pelicans after all. He signed a two-year, $16 million deal with New Orleans, which includes a player option for the second season.

This required the Clippers to withdraw their qualifying offer for Mathurin. This allowed him to sign with the Pelicans without having to work out a sign-and-trade or having to sign an offer sheet.

There will be Clippers fans who will be disappointed with this decision. Mathurin only arrived in LA six months ago as part of the Ivica Zubac trade. Giving up on him this quickly, especially for this type of reasonable contract, might not sit right with some fans. The frustration is understandable, considering that the Clippers didn't get anything in return for him, either.

But this was the right decision by the Clippers.

Mathurin has some upside, to be sure. He is a good scorer who is relentless at getting to the rim and the free-throw line. He can put points on the board in a pinch.

However, he was never going to reach that upside with the Clippers. There are simply better players in his position ahead of him on the depth chart. Plus, the last thing the Clippers needed was a score-first shooting guard with questionable shooting and defense.

Could the Clippers have signed Mathurin to the same deal the Pelicans signed him to? Perhaps. They could have flipped him at the trade deadline and maybe gotten positive assets in return.

There is, however, absolutely no guarantee that there would have been a market for Mathurin at that point. If there wasn't much interest in him this summer, who is to say that there would be more suitors for him after he spent half a season as the third or fourth shooting guard on the Clippers' depth chart?

Plus, giving Mathurin additional years or a player option could have hurt the Clippers' future flexibility. This downside likely outweighs the limited upside the Clippers had in bringing Mathurin back.

The main return in the Ivica Zubac trade was the two first-round picks from the Pacers. The first of those picks became Keaton Wagler, who is hopefully going to be the face of the franchise. The trade was never about Mathurin, and if Clippers fans start looking at the trade from that perspective, they will realize that the decision to let him walk was the correct one.

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