The Chicago Bulls are well-stocked with athletic, physically gifted young players, Caleb Wilson, Dailyn Swain, Matas Buzelis and Noa Essengue among them. Unfortunately, those four are average-to-awful shooters, which would make acquiring Bennedict Mathurin — another young, athletic, poor outside shooter — a mistake.
Bulls executive VP of basketball operations Bryson Graham is reportedly interested in landing Mathurin, a restricted free agent, according to NBA insider Marc Stein (subscription required).
But adding the 24-year-old to an already shot-challenged stable of high-upside wings would be one too many trips to the well for Graham.
Bennedict Mathurin would make Bulls' roster even more imbalanced
Mathurin has been a productive player over his four NBA seasons and would be a valuable addition for a handful of teams; for the Bulls, though, he would be redundant.
The Indiana Pacers made Mathurin the sixth overall pick in the 2022 draft, and he was an important player for Indy. Across 237 games (109 starts), he averaged 16.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He played in 22 of the Pacers' 23 playoff games in their near-title-winning season, averaging 11.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per contest.
Indiana sent the former Arizona standout to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of the Ivica Zubac trade at last year's deadline, and he was just as consistent in Hollywood, posting averages of 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 26 games.
Now, Mathurin is stuck in restricted free agency limbo, which, for anyone not named Walker Kessler, has been a slog this summer.
Graham is surely attracted to a player with Mathurin's qualities — a 6-foot-5 swingman with a 6-foot-9 wingspan and high-level athletic traits. And at 24, he still has room to grow and become a solid two-way role player on a contending team.
But given Chicago's desire to build around the trio of Wilson, Swain and Buzelis, the Bulls are not that team.
Mathurin is a career 33.6 percent 3-point shooter on a relatively high volume (4.0 attempts per game). He shot a woeful 20.7 percent from deep during his time in LA last year.
That lack of an outside shot wouldn't vibe well with Wilson and Swain, who are both below-average shooters at this stage of their careers. Buzelis shot 34.9 percent from beyond the arc last season, which isn't great. Josh Giddey has worked his way into becoming a decent 3-point shooter (36.4 percent), but nothing to write home about.
Jalen Smith is Chicago's top returning distance shooter at 37.3 percent.
Outside of 33-year-old free agent addition Norman Powell, the Bulls don't have a player who will force teams to defend out to the 3-point line.
Mathurin, for all his desirable qualities, would only clog Chicago's offense even more. And that would only make it harder for Wilson, Swain and Buzelis to grow.
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