NBA players in their fourth season are eligible for contract extensions that are potentially lucrative. Josh Giddey, the No. 6 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, signed a four-year, $100 million deal with the Chicago Bulls this summer.

That means Bennedict Mathurin, the No. 6 pick by the Indiana Pacers in 2022, could be up for a mammoth boost from his current $9.2 million salary, according to Spotrac.

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Teams and players sometimes agree to long-term extensions during a season to keep the player out of free agency the following summer. Should the Pacers do that with Mathurin?

Should the Indiana Pacers give Bennedict Mathurin a contract extension?

NBA insiders Zach Lowe and Fred Katz broke down the 2022 draft class, evaluating the possibility of each receiving a long-term deal. At about the 20-minute mark, they discussed Mathurin.

Mathurin’s role with the Pacers is changing dramatically. He is going from a sparkplug off the bench for the NBA’s most-passing team to a primary scorer in the wake of Tyrese Haliburton‘s injury and Myles Turner’s move to the Milwaukee Bucks. Coach Rick Carlisle already said Mathurin will start, though his offensive style doesn’t always match the perpetual movement that took the Pacers to the NBA Finals in June.

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Lowe and Katz believe the Pacers will take a wait-and-see approach.

Lowe: “I don’t think that necessarily changes his status to make an extension more likely. I don’t sense a lot of momentum right now.”

Katz: “Just like I don’t think the Pacers are necessarily going to want to pay him right now, I think there’s the other side of this.

“I think Mathurin can reasonably convince himself that, ‘You know what? I actually am somebody who could get something from another team.'”

Katz believes Mathurin could get interest next summer from teams that need immediate scoring infusions.

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“A team that needs to fill 18 to 20 points. ‘Sure, let’s bring in this guy.’ And he’s the kind of guy who could be attractive to those kinds of teams,” Katz said. “It’s not a commentary on Mathurin. It’s more a commentary on his style: a sparkplug who can fit into a scoring on-ball role.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Benedict Mathurin contract extension: NBA insiders say it won’t happen