The Indiana Pacers’ Finals run ended in heartbreak, and so did their roster. Tyrese Haliburton’s devastating Achilles injury and Myles Turner’s departure to Milwaukee left Indiana stripped of its cornerstone pieces. For a team that had fought tooth and nail to carve its place among the Eastern Conference elite, the summer felt like a cruel twist of fate. Losing Haliburton, the face of the franchise and its orchestrator on offense, was one blow. Watching Turner, the longest-tenured Pacer and defensive anchor, walk away in free agency was another. In a matter of weeks, Indiana was forced into a reality no one in the organization wanted to face: the blueprint they had been building was gone, and a new one had to be drawn.
But where some see a setback, Bennedict Mathurin sees the opening he’s been waiting for. The young guard, now entering his fourth year, has always carried himself with confidence, bordering on defiance. He has long believed that he has what it takes to be the focal point of a team, and now the opportunity has arrived. No longer sheltered by the presence of Haliburton or relegated to the secondary role that often comes with a deep roster, Mathurin steps into a full-time starting spot with more responsibility than ever before. Rick Carlisle has made it clear both privately and publicly: this is Mathurin’s moment. The Pacers are no longer a team defined by what they’ve lost, but by who they are becoming. And central to that identity is a 22-year-old guard who refuses to back down.
Mathurin’s rise has not been without its growing pains. In his first two seasons, he was electrifying in spurts but inconsistent overall, as is the case with many young players adjusting to the NBA’s demands. His rookie year was filled with highlights—fearless drives to the rim, step-back threes, and the kind of competitive fire that made it clear he wasn’t intimidated by anyone. Yet he struggled with efficiency, shot selection, and defensive discipline, issues that kept him from locking down a starting role. His sophomore campaign brought modest improvements, but it wasn’t until last season that Mathurin truly began to show what he could become.
With Haliburton battling through nagging injuries and Carlisle forced to shuffle rotations, Mathurin found himself with more minutes, more possessions, and more trust from his teammates. He responded by posting career-highs across the board, demonstrating a more polished offensive game and a growing understanding of how to leverage his athleticism. His scoring jumped, his three-point shooting improved, and he began to cut down on some of the wild drives that had defined his early years. More importantly, he showed glimpses of the leadership and accountability that every franchise cornerstone must carry. Teammates spoke of his competitiveness in practice, his willingness to take on defensive assignments, and his growing voice in the locker room.
Now, all of that potential transforms into responsibility. Without Haliburton to run the show, Mathurin must be more than just a scorer. He has to evolve into a playmaker, someone capable of creating opportunities not just for himself but for everyone around him. The Pacers’ offense has long been predicated on ball movement, spacing, and the ability to push the pace. Haliburton thrived in that system, orchestrating with surgical precision. Mathurin is a different kind of player—more downhill, more aggressive, and more instinctive than cerebral. The challenge for Carlisle and his coaching staff is to harness that aggression without stifling it, to allow Mathurin to stay true to who he is while also guiding him toward the discipline required to lead a team.
Carlisle has never been afraid to throw his players into the fire, and Mathurin is no exception. The message is clear: there are no safety nets this year. Indiana is not chasing banners in the immediate future. They understand that without their All-Star point guard and their defensive stalwart, they are not positioned to contend with Boston, Milwaukee, or Philadelphia. But what they are chasing is something more foundational—the building of a future identity. Every possession, every mistake, every breakthrough for Mathurin will be part of a larger process of growth.
This kind of developmental season is one of the hardest to stomach for a fanbase. After tasting the Finals, after watching their team compete with the league’s best, it is difficult to accept a year that may be more about progress than results. But that is the reality of where the Pacers stand. Their cap flexibility, their draft assets, and their player development program are all tools they can use to build back up. And at the center of that rebuild is Bennedict Mathurin.
The beauty of this opportunity is that it allows the Pacers to finally learn the answer to a question they’ve been asking since they drafted him: can Mathurin be the guy? Not just a talented scorer, not just a promising young guard, but the face of a franchise. His swagger suggests he believes it. His work ethic, by all accounts, backs that belief. But belief and potential must now be matched by production and consistency. It means taking the tough shots when no one else can. It means making the right pass when defenses collapse. It means putting in the work on the defensive end, even on nights when the offense isn’t clicking. It means accepting the weight of being the player everyone looks to when the game is on the line.
The Pacers’ roster reflects this transitional stage. Veterans remain, players who bring professionalism and stability, but it is not a roster designed for immediate contention. It is one designed to grow alongside Mathurin. Young pieces will get their chances, lineups will shift, and Carlisle will experiment in ways that might frustrate fans but serve the greater purpose of development. It is a season less about the standings and more about the statement Indiana makes about who they are becoming.
For Mathurin, there will be nights when the burden feels overwhelming. He will be targeted by opposing defenses, pressured to make decisions faster than ever before. There will be stretches of inefficiency, turnovers that sting, and moments when it feels like the weight of expectation is too heavy. But those moments are as important as the highlights. They are the crucible in which stars are forged. And Mathurin has never been one to shy away from a challenge.
What makes this moment so fascinating is the intersection of individual ambition and organizational necessity. Mathurin wants to be great. The Pacers need him to be great. That alignment can either lead to a meteoric rise or a sobering reality check. But either way, it will provide clarity. Indiana will know whether they have their cornerstone in Mathurin or whether he is better suited as a secondary piece once Haliburton returns and the front office reshapes the roster. For now, though, he is the unquestioned centerpiece.
The torch has been passed, not in the way anyone envisioned, but passed nonetheless. Indiana basketball enters a new chapter, one marked less by immediate glory and more by the gritty work of building for the future. In Bennedict Mathurin, they have a player who embodies that grit—confident, unafraid, and hungry to prove himself. He is no longer just a name on the roster. He is the foundation of what comes next.
Fans may need to temper expectations, but that does not mean the season will lack meaning. Every night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the crowd will watch not just a game, but a story unfolding. The story of a young guard stepping into the void, of a franchise recalibrating its identity, and of a city that has long cherished its basketball tradition embracing the uncertainty of growth.
Indiana may not be chasing banners this year, but they are chasing something even more valuable: a vision of the future. A vision in which Tyrese Haliburton returns healthy, Myles Turner’s absence is filled by new defensive anchors, and a more seasoned, battle-tested Bennedict Mathurin stands ready to share the stage as one of the league’s brightest stars. Until then, the spotlight belongs to him alone. And in that spotlight, Mathurin has the chance to show not just Indiana but the entire NBA that he is ready to carry the torch.
The heartbreak of the Finals defeat and the roster shake-up that followed could have broken a lesser team. For the Pacers, it has become a pivot point. And at the heart of that pivot is Bennedict Mathurin, a player stepping into responsibility with the boldness of someone who has always believed this was his destiny. The road ahead will not be easy, but if he can seize this moment, Indiana will look back on this season not as the year they fell apart, but as the year they began anew.
