Things are trying up for the Los Angeles Clippers. Despite the commerce deadline shakeup, the Clippers are on observe to make the postseason and will have a good chance to safe a playoff spot. Darius Garland is again and wholesome, the group has been aggressive in each sport, and Kawhi Leonard continues to play at a near-MVP stage. One concern for the Clippers that may stay an enormous debate between now and the offseason, nevertheless, is Bennedict Mathurin’s play.
Since being acquired from the Indiana Pacers as a part of the Ivica Zubac commerce, Mathurin has had just a few large scoring video games. He scored 20 factors in 4 video games, together with tying his career-high of 38 factors in his third sport as a Clipper. While these scoring bursts have understandably obtained consideration, Mathurin’s total affect hasn’t been the place it wanted to be.
Clippers’ Ben Mathurin Needs to Do More Than Just Score
Mathurin has at all times been a proficient scorer. He can get to the rim, end via contact, and draw fouls. When he’s on the ball, he has the flexibility to create good pictures for himself. Where he struggles is in different features of the sport, together with capturing, playmaking, and protection.
Through his 11-game tenure in LA, Mathurin hasn’t been capable of quell any of these issues. He is 6/38 (15.8%) from three. He has virtually as many assists as turnovers (27:23 AST: TO ratio).
For a participant with a large 28% utilization fee, these are unacceptable numbers. Mathurin has a True Shooting% of 53.1, considerably decrease than league-average effectivity. If considered one of your high-volume offensive gamers is just not creating sufficient pictures for others and is simply creating inefficient pictures for himself, this places a cap in your offense. It might not be a coincidence that the Clippers’ offensive score has been 4.3 factors per 100 possessions worse with him on the ground than with out him, per Cleaning the Glass.
This continues to be a sufficiently small pattern dimension that issues can change in a short time. If Mathurin’s three-point capturing progresses to the imply, each his and LA’s offensive numbers will look lots higher.
At the identical time, the Clippers do not have that a lot time earlier than having to decide on Mathurin. 19 regular-season video games are remaining, and nevertheless many postseason video games the Clippers get to play. After that, the Clippers should signal Mathurin to a contract extension.
Mathurin has proven sufficient upside as a scorer that the Clippers will need to retain him on a multi-year deal. However, Mathurin’s lack of enchancment in different features of his sport raises questions on his match subsequent to Darius Garland and Kawhi Leonard. Do the Clippers actually need to make investments important sources into their third possibility at finest, who cannot shoot or cross?
Let’s hope for each the Clippers’ and Mathurin’s sake that the 23-year-old begins displaying extra within the closing stretch of the season.
