Bennedict Mathurin dazzled during his brief NBA Summer League stint, but he’ll no longer compete in Las Vegas.
The Indiana Pacers announced Thursday that they’re shutting down this year’s No. 6 pick “for precautionary reasons due to a sore left big toe.”
Isaiah Jackson and Terry Taylor also won’t play in any more Summer League matchups.
Mathurin made a strong first impression by registering 23 points in his Summer League debut. He scored 20 more in Tuesday night’s win over the Detroit Pistons.
With their highest draft pick since 1988, the Pacers selected Mathurin out of Arizona. The 6’7″, 195-pound guard averaged 17.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game for the Wildcats last season.
The Canadian prospect is expected to play a pivotal role in the Pacers’ future plans. Following a 25-57 campaign, missing the playoffs for just the third time in the last 12 years, they inched closer to a full rebuild by trading veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon to the Boston Celtics for five players and a 2023 first-round pick.
Mathurin is now an organizational building block alongside Tyrese Haliburton. They’ll be extra cautious with the 20-year-old after an encouraging Sumer League start.
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