Mavericks’ free agency drought has an overlooked solution no one's talking about

With players like Quentin Grimes and Anfernee Simons coming off the board in free agency earlier this week, the Dallas Mavericks are limited in terms of their options to sign a guard with their Mid-Level Exception. Despite this, a young guard from the LA Clippers, Bennedict Mathurin, could be the solution no one is talking about to patch Dallas' free agency drought.

Dallas hasn't made a single signing in free agency since it opened on Tuesday, and the silence surrounding the Mavericks is only getting louder. Mavericks fans are ready for Masai Ujiri to make a move, and despite all of the chatter online about who Dallas should sign, Mathurin is shockingly not someone who MFFLs have been clamoring over.

He is flying way under the radar in this free agency, and he is exactly what Dallas needs, despite being a restricted free agent, as they need to make use of their MLE sooner rather than later, with so many names coming off the board already.

After the Clippers traded Kawhi Leonard, LA tendered the qualifying offer to Mathurin, but it's seeming like it's increasingly unlikely he'll accept that offer, with LA prioritizing recent No. 5 overall pick Keaton Wagler as well as Darius Garland as their starters in the backcourt this upcoming season.

Mathurin is the overlooked free agent Dallas should target

Mathurin may not be the point-of-attack defender Grimes is, nor is he as prolific a three-level scorer as someone like Simons is, but he just turned 24 years old and has flashed some great potential in spurts. At 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, Mathurin is a phenomenal athlete, and he has the chops to be a great point-of-attack defender when he's fully bought in.

There have been some effort concerns with Mathurin throughout his young NBA career, but if he can get a little more bought in on the defensive end, there's no denying the offensive talent is there for him to be a great addition to Dallas' core alongside Cooper Flagg.

In 54 games with the Indiana Pacers and Clippers last season, Mathurin averaged 17.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game, with shooting splits of 43.0/31.5/86.9. There's no denying Mathurin needs to progress with his 3-point shot as well as his ability to play off-ball, but his free-throw percentage indicates he can still improve in this regard with more time and work, and he did manage to shoot above 37 percent from outside in the 2023-24 season with Indiana.

Mavs could unlock Mathurin's game even further

Mathurin isn't far removed from being a key contributor for the Pacers during the 2025 NBA Finals, as his ability to get to the rim and finish against length, as well as create looks for himself in the mid-range against a tough Oklahoma City Thunder defense, was a huge factor that helped Indiana push that series to seven games.

With the Clippers' qualifying offer to Mathurin being a one-year, $8.8 million deal, the Mavericks could easily out-price them by offering Mathurin part or all of their MLE. Of course, the Clippers could always match the offer sheet and keep Mathurin if they really wanted to, but it simply wouldn't be surprising if they opted away from that, given they just drafted Wagler and Mathurin shot very poorly from outside through 26 games in LA.

Mathurin may not be the most high-profile name Dallas could've targeted this free agency, but he is financially attainable, and there's no denying he has the most potential compared to some of their other presumed targets by fans and media. He could easily be Dallas' third-best shot creator from the jump next season if his 3-point shot is coming along, and there's still some untapped defensive potential that head coach Dusty May and company could unlock right away.

Teams are going to regret overlooking Mathurin, and the Mavs should put an end to their slow start to free agency by signing him before it's too late.

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