Tag: Bennedict Mathurin

NBA Rising Stars 2024: Bennedict Mathurin unanimously named MVP to lead Team Jalen to title

Pacers sophomore Bennedict Mathurin was unanimously named MVP of the 2024 NBA Rising Stars game to lead Team Jalen to the championship.

Indiana Pacers sophomore Bennedict Mathurin on Friday was unanimously named MVP of the 2024 NBA Rising Stars game to lead Team Jalen to the championship in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Mathurin produced 18 points in the opening game as Team Jalen defeated Team Tamika. He had four points, two assists and one steal in a 26-13 win in the final over Team Detlef, which consisted of seven of the top players in the G League.

While Mathurin did the bulk of the scoring in the semifinal round, Dereck Lively II had six points and Jordan Hawkins and Jalen Williams each chipped in five points in the final. Williams drained the game-winning 3-pointer to end it for Team Jalen.

The event featured four seven-player teams competing in a three-game tournament for the third straight year. The two semifinal games were played to a target score of 40, and the championship game was played to a target score of 25.

The pool of players for the game consisted of 11 rookies, 10 second-year players and seven players from the G League. The players from the NBA were selected by assistant coaches and the players from the G League were selected by the league office.

The four teams were coached by Hall of Famer Pau Gasol, Indiana Fever legend Tamika Catchings and former Pacers standouts Jalen Rose and Detlef Schrempf, who led the G League team.

Here is how the teams performed in the event.

NBA Rising Stars 2024: Full rosters revealed in draft announcement

The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the four seven-player teams for the 2024 NBA Rising Stars game.

The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the four seven-player teams for the 2024 NBA Rising Stars game on Feb. 16 as part of All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The event will feature four seven-player teams competing in a three-game tournament for the third straight year. The two semifinal games will be played to a target score of 40. The championship game will be played to a target score of 25.

The pool of players for the game consists of 11 rookies, 10 second-year players and seven players from the G League. The 21 players in the NBA will be drafted onto three teams. The seven players in the G League will comprise the fourth team.

The players from the NBA were selected by assistant coaches. The players from the G League were selected by the league office. Each team submitted a rookie ballot and a sophomore ballot featuring four frontcourt players, four guards and two additional players of any position.

Hall of Famer Pau Gasol will return as one of the four honorary head coaches for the event. Joining Gasol are Indiana Fever legend Tamika Catchings and former Indiana Pacers standouts Jalen Rose and Detlef Schrempf, who will lead the G League team.

Here are the rosters drafted by Gasol, Catchings and Rose.

NBA Rising Stars 2024: Player pool revealed for annual showcase at All-Star Weekend

The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the list of 28 players set to participate in the annual Rising Stars game on Feb. 16 at All-Star Weekend.

The NBA on Tuesday unveiled the list of 28 players set to participate in the annual Rising Stars game on Feb. 16 as part of All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The event will feature four seven-player teams competing in a three-game tournament for the third straight year. The two semifinal games will be played to a target score of 40. The championship game will be played to a target score of 25.

The pool of players for the game consists of 11 rookies, 10 second-year players and seven players from the G League. The 21 players in the NBA will be drafted onto three teams and the seven players in the G League will comprise the fourth team.

The players from the NBA were selected by assistant coaches. The players from the G League were selected by the league office. Each team submitted a rookie ballot and a sophomore ballot featuring four frontcourt players, four guards and two additional players of any position.

Hall of Famer Pau Gasol will return as one of the four honorary head coaches for the event. Joining Gasol are Indiana Fever legend Tamika Catchings and former Indiana Pacers standouts Jalen Rose and Detlef Schrempf, who will lead the G League team.

Assistant coaches from the NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs will join the honorary head coaches in coaching the Rising Stars teams. The NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs for both the Eastern and Western Conferences have yet to be determined.

TNT will televise the competition beginning at 9 p.m. EST.

Projected starters for the Pacers after a big trade united Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton

This was a huge move for the Pacers!

The Indiana Pacers made a swing for the fences and acquired two-time All-Star forward Pascal Siakam from the Toronto Raptors.

Although it is still unclear if Siakam will sign a contract extension with the Pacers or if he will test free agency this offseason, Indiana will instantly become one of the most interesting teams in the Eastern Conference once Tyrese Haliburton can return from his injury.

When this team is fully healthy, they have a fascinating starting lineup that could potentially make a run much like they did during the NBA’s In-Season Tournament.

Here is what they will likely have on the court when their ideal starting five is ready to play together:

Ranking the 23 best NBA players under 23 years old, with a FIBA World Cup star leading the pack

Where should Victor Wembanyama rank? Here’s the answer, along with the other best young NBA stars.

We are entering a new era of the NBA with Victor Wembanyama as one of several young stars vying to become the face of the league.

Now that the NBA’s 2023-24 season is less than a month away from tipping off, as we did last year, we have decided to re-rank the 23 best players who are under 23 years old.

But why 23? Well, it is not just because that was the number worn by Michael Jordan. Typically, NBA publications rank 25 players under 25 years old. You can read versions of that here, here, and here. I wanted to try out a similar thought experiment but with a new twist.

By the time NBA players are 25 years old, many have already graduated to their second contract and are in vastly different chapters of their careers than the league’s young players. It is harder to compare players like Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum, who will each earn more than $30 million next season, to players on rookie scale contracts.

The following rankings, meanwhile, are based predominantly on how we see NBA projections for next season. It is not as predictive of their future success or their potential in the league.

NOTE: For this exercise, all players included must be born after Oct. 24, 2000. 

Watch: Klay Thompson working out with Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin

Klay Thompson recently shared a workout with Indiana Pacers sophomore guard Bennedict Mathurin.

With the start of training camp and the NBA preseason nearing, players around the league are back in the gym getting ready. After touring China with Kevon Looney and Anta, Klay Thompson returned to the gym for a workout with an impressive young guard from the Indiana Pacers.

Under the eye of trainer Charlie Max Torres, Thompson worked out with Pacers sophomore guard Bennedict Mathurin. Thompson and Mathurin traded tough buckets as the two guards went back and forth in a series of one-on-one drills against each other.

Via @NBA on Twitter:

In his 10th year in the association, Thompson is coming off a campaign in which he averaged 21.9 points on 43.6% shooting from the field and 41.2% from beyond the arc to go along with 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per contest. Thompson led all of the NBA with 301 made 3s from beyond the arc during the 2022-23 season.

On his way to earning a spot on the 2022-23 All-Rookie team, Mathurin tallied 16.7 points on 43.4% from the floor to go along with 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per contest.

After sharing a workout together, Thompson and Mathurin will meet on the court for the first time in the 2023-24 regular season on Feb. 8 in Indiana.

This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

10 bold preseason predictions revisited from the 2022 NBA draft

Rookie Wire offered 10 bold predictions for the 2022-23 season in October and vowed to come back to see how we did.

Back in October, Rookie Wire offered 10 bold predictions for the 2022-23 season based on the available information and vowed to come back and see how we did.

Well, the time has come to look back and review the results.

We started this exercise prior to the 2019-20 season, which was our inaugural class on Rookie Wire, and we have kept up with it each year since then. Our annual revisit of these bold predictions can serve as a fun way to provide some sort of accountability around here.

This year proved no different.

We once again hit on some of our predictions but fell well short of the mark on others. In our defense, to be fair, we were very close on several of these. We just ask that you go easy on us and don’t alert the authorities at Freezing Cold Takes about the ones we missed badly on.

Here is how we fared last season.

Projected starting lineup for the Pacers after signing Bruce Brown and Obi Toppin

Bruce Brown reportedly signed a two-year, $45 million deal with the Pacers.

Bruce Brown has reportedly agreed to a two-year, $45 million deal to sign with the Indiana Pacers, per ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

The second year reportedly has a team option, according to Washington Post reporter Ben Golliver.

Brown is a 6-foot-4, 26-year-old wing who played a pivotal role for the Nuggets en route to winning an NBA championship in 2022-23. Although he came off the bench during the postseason run for Denver, his presence on the court was invaluable.

Brown enjoyed the fifth-best on-court point differential among all players in the playoffs, via NBA.com. He will help provide defensive versatility for the Pacer, which is especially important because Indiana had the second-worst defensive rating in the Eastern Conference last season.

Here is what the rotation will likely look like for Indiana with Brown in the mix:

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Bennedict Mathurin: ‘Rick Carlisle has been hard on me, but I asked for it’

Bennedict Mathurin talked to HoopsHype about the upcoming season, the Pacers’ future, his confidence, and more.

Along with Jabari Smith, Bennedict Mathurin was invited to the 2023 Adidas Eurocamp in Treviso, Italy, to share his knowledge with young prospects worldwide.

Mathurin, who averaged 16.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in his rookie season, caught up with HoopsHype to talk about his first season in the NBA, the Indiana Pacers’ future, his confidence, and more.

2023 NBA All-Rookie: Paolo Banchero unanimously selected to first team

Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero was the only unanimous first-team selection this year.

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams and Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler headlined the NBA All-Rookie first team announced on Monday.

Banchero, who was named Rookie of the Year, was the only unanimous first-team selection, appearing on all 100 ballots from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Williams earned 99 first-team votes and Kessler garnered 95 votes.

Joining the trio of players on the first team are Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray and Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin. Murray was on 88 first-team ballots while Mathurin was on 71 in the final tally released with the announcement.

2022-23 NBA All-Rookie First Team

Player First Team Votes Second Team Votes Total Points
Paolo Banchero 100 0 200
Jalen Williams 99 1 199
Walker Kessler 95 5 195
Keegan Murray 88 9 195
Bennedict Mathurin 71 28 170

Jalen Duren (Detroit Pistons), Tari Eason (Houston Rockets), Jaden Ivey (Detroit Pistons), Jabari Smith Jr. (Houston Rockets) and Jeremy Sochan (San Antonio Spurs) were named to the All-Rookie second team.

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