Pacers Mailbag: What's next for Bennedict Mathurin & Jarace Walker (Patreon)

Answering mailbag questions about what's next for the Pacers based on what's next for the team's two highest draft selections in decades 

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

This is the first installment of the monthly mailbag, focusing on the two lottery picks who didn't play for the Pacers during the playoffs but project to factor as arguably the most critical swing pieces with regard to the future trajectory of the team. With plenty of intrigue surrounding Bennedict Mathurin and Jarace Walker, what follows is essentially a deep dive on both players guided by the questions that were submitted, along with a fun inquiry about whether the Pacers should be in for a redesign, which, coincidentally, seems to align with this overall conversation.

As always, thank you for supporting me in writing about the basketball played by the Indiana Pacers. If you don't see your question here, fear not. There are plans to roll out more of these in the coming days and weeks, with some even turning into standalone articles.

So, without further ado, let's mailbag!

Mike Brooks: My question is around the running commentary that Jarace has trouble staying in front of his assignment and his most effective defensive attribute is use of hands to reach around or bat balls. He clearly does this and often at his detriment jumping passing lanes or tapping the ball from behind on a drive. However, I watched every play of 2 games - one where he had to play 2 and one when Sheppard was on the court. He had a total of 3, possible 4 if you count being rubbed off a flat screen, where he was blown by. Two were on a help recovery close out. And I saw multiple times where he was able to turn/ defend to a pass with 2 being iso end of clock. My question is do you think that the Jarace narrative around his ball defense has taken a life of its own and will be impossible to shake or is it true that he can’t offer this Pacers team any assistance and we keep throwing out undersized 3/ 4s that work but can’t overcome their size disadvantage?

There are several keywords in your last sentence. First of all, if the "narrative around his ball defense has taken on a life of its own" and isn't actually reflective of his full body of work, the coaching staff isn't going to pay that any mind. Positional size matters. That was evident throughout the regular season and especially during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, when the Pacers switched on 46.2 picks per 100 possessions, compared to 20.7 over the prior three games, with Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith taking on the assignments against Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown -- rather than Pascal Siakam or Obi Toppin. Put simply, if Walker's penchant for reaching for poke-from-behind steals is the aberration, he'll be in the rotation. They very clearly have a Jarace-shaped hole at the end of the floor, which he is uniquely positioned to potentially fill. That said, the other key portion of your question is the phrasing of "is it true that he can't offer this Pacers team any assistance."

There's a difference between "can't" (as in, he isn't likely to at any point in the future) and "doesn't always" (which more so refers to inconsistency at the current time and occasionally needing to be prodded). For example, consider this possession in transition from the second quarter against Denver. As the first player back, he's responsible for protecting the basket; and yet, he basically doesn't provide any resistance -- neither on the drive nor the drop-off pass.

Tellingly, on the very next possession following a made shot, he could be seen applying full-court pressure and actually turning and sliding with the ball.

Granted, those are two different situations, and he still ultimately ended up stripping the ball after giving up middle penetration; however, for a player on the outskirts of the rotation whose coaches publicly said they would be watching for "hard play," along with his conditioning and motor, his level of compete wasn't exactly as level as would be expected.

In that regard, it isn't always so much a question of "can" he as "will" he -- which is somewhat concerning, even if also correctable. To that point, as it relates to whether he can provide "any" assistance, the answer will likely depend on circumstances. When he was defending Minnesota's Rob Dillingham at the point of attack, there's was reason to wonder why he was defending Minnesota's Rob Dillingham at the point of attack -- especially with Ben Sheppard on the floor.

Here, for example, he's chasing over into what becomes a forced switch at the same time as Sheppard has to engage at the rim as the low-man. Then, after Tristen Newton and Enrique Freeman turned the ball over on the inbounds pass, Walker snatched the rebound and proceeded to dribble into a no-pass, pull-up three with 15+ seconds on the shot-clock.

Everything about that is confusing with regard to defensive roles and also might be one of the most Summer League sequences to ever Summer League. That wasn't a one-off against Dillingham, either. A few possessions earlier, Walker ran directly into contact on a screen out of horns action and proceeded to give up shoulder-to-hip advantage after switching back.

On the flip side, when he was defending the screener as part of small-ball lineups, he held up decently switching out to the ball in late-clock situations, with his wingspan making up for some of the difference in separation on contests or in recovery.

He's a big body, which matters as far as having the facility to match-up with players his own size, but there's a duality to also being a big target when it comes to getting screened against speedier guards or chasing over the top in actions that involve Myles Turner (or potentially James Wiseman) -- as the Pacers typically prefer. Meanwhile, if the problem Walker is projected to fix is defending wing-sized wings, then he can't have lapses that contribute to that very problem.

As things currently stand, his overall performance defending the ball at Summer League likely points toward needing to see more from him during training camp and preseason -- when he'll likely have more opportunity, regardless of narratives and hopefully more often at his natural position (no more Rob Dillinghams!) to show whether his body of work can reflect his body size.

Michael DeDomenic: Jarace looked awesome in Summer League, playing more on the wing. What lineups/sets do you think Rick needs to use him in to see him play consistent minutes? How many minutes do you hope to see him play? I think he would need to be over 900 minutes for it to be considered a successful season.

This sequence is an ideal view of what Walker offers at the wing, which (coincidentally) is triggered by an example of his sly, deft hands coming to the rescue at the point of attack.

Here's why that play matters. After shooting a combined 14-of-66 on jump shots (21.2%) last summer and during preseason, Walker has canned 43.8 percent of his jump-shots since (136-of-310), including his attempts in the G League, with the Pacers, and at Summer League. The hitch he had in his mechanics a year ago, when he was managing an elbow injury, is long gone, and he isn't often drifting to the left on his release. He put in the work, and it shows, especially as it pertains to the response of the defense. On that possession, for example, notice how his defender jumps toward him on the catch. As such, with both defenders committing to Tristen Newton at the top of the key (uhh, why?), Walker is unlocked to short the roll, delivering the high-low, gator pass from the wing to Enrique Freeman at the rim. In that way, when Walker's progress isn't dependent on the progress of his handle or creating advantages for others, he has the potential to multiply the high-end advantages created by others, whether shooting or as a connective playmaker.

And, here's the thing: That isn't guaranteed for everyone on the roster. Just look at this nearly identical possession against the Sixers. With Joel Embiid cross-matched onto Obi Toppin and pre-switching on the screen approach with Tyrese Maxey, two defenders likewise end up committing to the ball. To counter, Haliburton advances the ball to Mathurin at the wing, gesturing wildly for the second-year guard to short the roll from the wing to Toppin, just as Walker completed on his own accord in Vegas.

Oof!

It's those types of plays, along with fake hand-offs and keepers that allow Walker to turn the ball downhill with a seam to the rim, in which he can keep the offense moving without having to put the initial bend in the offense that make him seem as though he could reasonably play spot minutes at the wing spot. As to your question about how many minutes, if the starting lineup remains the same, with T.J. McConnell, Bennedict Mathurin, Obi Toppin, and either Isaiah Jackson or James Wiseman rounding out the bench, then the Pacers will already be at a nine-man rotation without factoring in Ben Sheppard, who Carlisle cited for starring in his role and leading the team in net rating during the playoffs. Between Walker and Sheppard, Sheppard is currently further along at the defensive end of the floor and provides an additional means for neither Mathurin nor Haliburton to have to guard at the point of attack when Nembhard isn't on the floor.

That said, Sheppard obviously doesn't provide as much size as Walker, but Walker -- as the prior response detailed -- still needs to deliver on actualizing what his size could provide. In short, the Pacers know what they're getting in Sheppard, and the same can't necessarily be said of Walker, which is for better or worse with regard to each of them. Right now, if Walker plays more than 900 minutes next season (barring injuries), that would be a major success -- as it would imply that he is either well on his way to solving the problem the Pacers have defending against wing-sized wings or that a lesser role opened up elsewhere by virtue of making a consolidation trade for someone who is presumably more ready to do so in the immediate as a significant contributor.

Andy Rosta: For the upcoming season, where do you see the Pacers improving the most? Do you see Jarace or Johnny Furphy contributing at all this season? Who might replace Buddy’s 3 point attempts this year, or will it be a team effort?

Given that the roster is largely the same, this is Year 2 of "the defense doesn't have to be good, or even mediocre, it merely needs to be bad." Put simply, the defense just can't be terrible. As you may recall, following Team USA's tune-up game against Canada, I wrote an article about Tyrese Haliburton's self-awareness, scramming himself out of multiple mismatches while surrounded by wing-sized wings in Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum as well as the portable rim protection of Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis, who have basically functioned like an octopus that just keeps regenerating tentacles. At the time, I saw that as a blueprint for what could be possible for Tyrese on that end of the floor when insulated by the protection of more length. Additionally, there was a telling hiccup within that possession which saw Tatum execute a coverage that the Celtics went to during the Finals, as opposed to what's expected in that spot with Team USA. In that way, with Siakam and Walker both coming from very different defensive schemes with the Raptors and at Houston, it seems reasonable to expect some improvement from each of them with regard to being where they should be and when they should be following a full training camp. Plus, now that Derrick White's defense has essentially usurped Haliburton's playmaking in Team USA's rotation, there might be added motivation for Haliburton to up his game at that end of the floor.

That said, as was previously laid out, Walker still has more to prove during preseason to consistently crack the rotation. Even so, the Pacers scored 122.4 points per 100 possessions with Tyrese Haliburton on the floor last season, which was the second-highest impact in the league among qualified players. Again, even a little improvement at the end of the floor, be it the health and physicality of Haliburton, heightened awareness from Mathurin, Siakam's familiarity with the scheme, or Walker's emergence, could end up being some degree of a difference-maker.

As for your question about Johnny Furphy, with Sheppard and Walker arguably already competing for minutes on the margins next season, it doesn't seem likely that the 19-year-old Aussie will be a factor in the rotation barring injuries or a consolidation trade -- which is fine, because (ahem) he's only 19. To his credit, he held his head above water better than expected when targeted during Summer League (albeit occasionally with his teammates loading up heavily at the elbows and blocks), but he's going to need to add strength to avoid getting buried under the basket after switching onto or veering into the screener at the next level.

Lastly, with regard to replacing Hield's three-point attempts, the Pacers went from hoisting 38 percent of their shots as threes before Hield was traded, which ranked 13th in the league, to attempting 36 percent of their shots as threes after his departure, which ranked 27th. On the whole, the Pacers still had the second-best offense during the playoffs, but they scored under a point per possession after halftime against Boston in Games 3 and 4 without Haliburton. Remember, Al Horford (7) made more threes than the Pacers as a team in Game 3 (5) -- and Nembhard, who shot 50 percent on 2.9 catch-and-shoot threes per game, was responsible for four of the five. With Hield, the impact he has as a shooter goes beyond shot volume or making shots, he also bends the defense when he isn't shooting. The only player currently on the roster who can match or exceed that level of gravity away from the ball on the perimeter is Haliburton, which is why Nembhard's emergence as a 2-guard who can run offense is all the more important.

Otherwise, as far as dynamic movement shooters, who can ghost the switch for Haliburton to create hesitation and reignite the offense, they're either going to need more from Nesmith with regard to screening technique and loading his shot or hope for a leap from Ben Sheppard, who has a keener understanding for knowing where to move when the ball moves but hasn't yet delivered on consistently knocking down shots, as he went just 1-of-12 from deep during the Eastern Conference Finals.

Jeff Hasser: Do you think the Pacers should expend resources to get better point guards in summer league and the G league to create a better feel for developing players to play in the Pacers system?

Ideally, based on everything from the prior responses, the answer is yes. Quenton Jackson is a slashing combo guard who was attempting to masquerade as a lead ball-handler, and Walker, as a utility player who is trying to carve out a rotation spot as a wing, was more often kick-starting possessions as a guard, not getting very far with his handle in the half-court while recording more turnovers (23) than assists (19). To be fair, it's possible that the Pacers anticipated that Tristen Newton would bring a steadier hand than what turned out to be the case as he adapted from playing within Connecticut's ridiculous playbook to processing reads on the fly for a roster that was also constructed on the fly. Either way, Newton was at times throwing pocket passes that should've been skip passes and skip passes that should've been pocket passes, which forced Walker into creating advantages from a standstill.

That is extremely Summer League by everyone involved, even by Summer League standards. As previously mentioned, Walker's handle didn't take him very far in the half-court, including when he gave up ground by fading away in the post. As the primary ball-handler, meanwhile, he exhibited some similar struggles with reading taggers that likely wouldn't be as apparent if he was playing (at the risk of repeating the same phrasing) as a connector with his overall feel and passing vision.

For the most part, there isn't going to be reason for him to operate like that on a roster with high-end dynamic ball-handlers in Haliburton, McConnell, and Nembhard, which is why it would've been preferable to see him get more reps functioning as he would and, potentially, could around them, including more often as the screener. The Pacers don't have to know exactly what he might become right now, and there is probably some benefit to allowing him to rule out what he currently isn't, but it shouldn't come at the expense of honing that which he is most likely to be doing.

Patrick Fagan: If only one can remain for the Pacers long term is it Walker or Mathurin?

That's a loaded question with a lot to unpack -- especially given that Andrew Nembhard just signed a three-year, $59 million extension that will take him through the 2027-28 season. As an archetype, Walker is a toolsy wing with the size to defend wing-sized wings; however, aside from the promise of his positional size, he doesn't necessarily provide a singular, elite crystallized skill that distinguishes him from the rest of the roster. Bennedict Mathurin, meanwhile, hasn't shown that he can mesh with the team's best player, but he's capable of getting off shots when the offense breaks down that no one else on the roster can access or take.

Of course, as demonstrated by the example of the read shorting the roll that Walker made and he missed, the flip side of that is whether Mathurin can play at random, quickly finding the best shot for the team, without breaking down the offense. Even so, the Pacers got outscored by 2.11 points per 100 possessions in the 698 minutes that Mathurin and Haliburton were on the floor together, mostly because they were dependent on exactly that … outscoring opponents, surrendering a mammoth 121.4 points per 100 possessions. Unlike Nembhard, when Haliburton gets face-guarded and top-locked, Mathurin isn't going to run offense or be as sticky at the point of attack -- although his on-ball defense is arguably ahead of his off-ball defense. On the whole, Mathurin is currently a better player than Walker with more upside to potentially develop into a star due to his shot-creation (i.e. he scored 1.169 points per isolation, which led all scorers for the Pacers), but his usage swings from 19.8 percent with Haliburton to 26.0 percent without Haliburton, providing yet another data point as to why he projects as either a high-level sixth man on this roster or as a potential means to acquire talent to add in between Haliburton, Nembhard, and Siakam.

In short, the lean here is Walker, who can hopefully grow to star in his role in the event that Mathurin, with more depth at his position, can return more value and is more likely to takeoff elsewhere. The good news is, without a surefire upgrade for either on the trade market, the front office has the luxury to be patient, keeping their options open while continuing to gauge the development and fit of both players, whether with respect to another team or their respective long-term futures with the Pacers.

Andrew Keeler: With the Team Store currently closed amid rumors of a team re-brand circulating on social media, do you have a favorite brand era or jersey type? Any other franchise around the league you'd think we might emulate? Broadly, with any potential re-brand, what do you want to see?

So, this is news to me. The last time I was at the team store was when I attended the awesome Fever win over the Liberty earlier this month. Actually, let me qualify that statement. I wasn't "at" the team store. I walked to the team store after the game and stared in astonishment at an infinite line unlike anything I have ever seen before at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and decided to keep walking. Much to my dismay, this meant that I didn't get a chance to add to my much needed collection of "Caitlin" merch as Indy's less notable Caitlin. Anyway, the store was very much open that day, although I never actually saw anything that the store was selling.

Generally speaking, I mostly see jerseys as what players wear while they are playing basketball, which is what really matters. I don't have strong opinions about them, despite the fact that some of you might have noticed that my graphics here at Basketball, She Wrote often draw inspiration from various team motifs, including the Flo-Jos, pinstripes, and chest stripe, as can be seen as the header to this very mailbag. Likewise, the script lettering of my "Lifelong Fan" shirt is intended to pay homage to the 1970 ABA-era jerseys that saw the Pacers win three championships (1970, 1972, 1973). For anyone who recognizes the look of those throwbacks and wants to rep them with a modern twist, you’re a real one. Hey, to that point, maybe the Pacers should give some thought to "Agrarian Economy of Buckets" or "Jump Passes are Good Now" as a tagline? "Pretty Girls Can Guard, Too" and "Hot Girl Basketball" are also available for the Pacemates.

Let's gooooooo!!!!

In all seriousness, my main take about jerseys is that there are too many jerseys. As soon as a team lands on a jersey that resonates, another gets released without much opportunity to foster any sort of long-lasting brand identity. Along those same lines, my other request is that we don't have to ask what the connection is to the team. We should be able to tell just by looking at it. Of course, this doesn't apply to my own merch, which is admittedly very niche, based on my work, and geared around building the community I never had when I was growing up, but (as probably applies to most things) do what I say, not what I do -- unless they want to do exactly what I do, then, by all means, feel free to contact me.

Kidding!

I think?

(Starts imagining the sun rising on what will certainly be the mass appeal of the Agrarian Economy of Buckets-Era)

Again, let's goooooooo!!!

Patron-Only Popsicle Content

Last summer, my sister who wishes to remain anonymous and I challenged each other to outdo Bomb Pops with a red, white, and blue-themed popsicle cook-off in honor of the FIBA World Cup. With the Paris Olympics officially in full-swing and Tyrese Haliburton once again competing for Team USA, I decided to bring back her challenge-winning recipe. By my own admission, her hand-crafted pops made with real, fresh fruit and coconut milk were far superior to my frozen triple-layer bars of cranberry juice, lemonade, and blue Gatorade. (For anyone who knows both of us and our relative skills in the kitchen, none of this should come as a surprise. Although, I will say, that both of our creations, even when considering the laziness of my artificial juice-pouring, were upgrades over Bomb Pops. That's right, we only eat Outshine as store-bought popsicles in this household!) Anyway, since her popsicles were such a hit with both of us, we decided to make them again for our very formal Basketball, She Wrote company picnic on her front porch.

My sister who wishes to remain anonymous, of course, chose to remain anonymous for this picture.

Here's to my tiny corner of the internet, the basketball played by the Indiana Pacers, and both Pacers who (hopefully) will actually be playing basketball at the Paris Olympics! Cheers!