Benedict Mathurin’s restricted free agency is narrowing fast. Jake Fischer said Wednesday that the most likely outcomes are a sign-and-trade to the Pelicans or a decision to take the Clippers’ qualifying offer.
That matters now because Mathurin is one of only two restricted free agents still on the market, and the clock is already running toward October 1. The Clippers’ one-year qualifying offer is worth $8.8MM, while a sign-and-trade would require a new deal of at least three years, making the next move about structure as much as it is about money.
Fischer described the Pelicans as Mathurin’s primary suitor, which gives New Orleans the clearest path if a deal gets done. The catch is that the Pelicans are operating just $5.8MM below the luxury tax line and $7.4MM below the first tax apron, so any sign-and-trade likely needs salary to go out as well. That is where Jordan Hawkins comes in. He is on a $7MM expiring contract and had already been identified as New Orleans’ most likely trade candidate.
The Pelicans have been looking at Hawkins for a while. Last month, reporting said they were exploring trade scenarios involving him, and Fischer said he thinks New Orleans will be able to make a deal involving Hawkins in September. If that happens, the move would give the Pelicans nearly $13MM of breathing room below the tax line and about $14.5MM below the first apron, enough to make a Mathurin arrangement far more realistic.
The friction is simple: New Orleans may like Mathurin most, but liking him is not the same as having room for him. The club could try to move Hawkins separately, or fold his salary into the same chain of transactions, but either way the roster math has to work before a sign-and-trade does.
Mathurin, 24, has until October 1 to decide whether to accept the Clippers’ $8.8MM qualifying offer. Taking it would keep him on a one-year path, and it would put him in position to reach unrestricted free agency in 2027. Earlier in the summer, he was linked to the Bucks, the Mavericks and the Bulls, but Fischer downplayed the chances of Milwaukee or Chicago making a real play. For now, the market has been cut down to two roads, and New Orleans may need to clear one more contract before it can take the one it wants.
