The Houston Rockets have traded Garrison Mathews to the Phoenix Suns after 11 starts and only $8 million invested in him. This is a rare move for an NBA team, but one that may be worth it for the Rockets if they don’t see any production from their point guards going forward.
The “Houston Rockets Handed Garrison Mathews More Than $8 Million After 11 Starts” is an article about the Houston Rockets. It talks about how they gave a player, Garrison Mathews, more than $8 million after only 11 starts. Read more in detail here: rockets houston.
A 1-16 start was bad enough for the rebuilding Houston Rockets. The Rockets, on the other hand, have won nine of their past 13 games in the previous three weeks. If that wasn’t bizarre enough, one of the main reasons is the ascension of Garrison Mathews, a little-known guard whose incredible growth in such a short period of time has resulted in a significant salary raise.
Garrison Mathews was acquired by the Houston Rockets soon before the start of the season.
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Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr., and Jae’Sean Tate were all part of Houston’s plan to develop around them. Despite this, Mathews has possibly shocked the squad more than anybody else.
The 25-year-old shooting guard spent four years at Lipscomb University, where he was a four-year starter. Mathews guided the Bisons to their first berth in the NCAA Tournament in school history in 2018. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard declared for the 2019 NBA Draft a year later, after averaging more than 20 points for the third straight season, but never heard his name called.
Mathews eventually signed a two-way deal with the Washington Wizards, making him the first Lipscomb player to play in the NBA. Despite spending the most of his first season on the bench or in the G League, the Franklin, Tennessee native appeared in 18 games. In 2020-21, he played a bigger part for Washington, appearing in 64 games for an average of 16.2 minutes each night.
Despite his modest contributions, the Wizards decided to release Mathews at the end of the season. He was signed by the Boston Celtics during training camp, but he was released a few weeks later. The Rockets then claimed the former Lipscomb standout off waivers and signed him to a two-way deal one day before the regular season began.
Since breaking into the starting lineup, Mathews has been a scoring machine.
Last night, Garrison Mathews nailed six three-pointers. Through 12 games, he averaged 13.4 points per game, 3.1 rebounds per game, 48.1 field goal percentage, and 41.8 three-point percentage (3.2/7.6).
While this is going on elsewhere, it’s a positive indicator that the Wizards scouted him as an undrafted player out of Lipscomb. pic.twitter.com/neLeFOlgbB
December 11, 2021 — Chase Hughes (@ChaseHughesNBCS)
Mathews’ Rockets career started with a string of 13 inactives. Finally, in his club debut against the Memphis Grizzlies, the former Bison played just under 15 minutes and scored seven points. The true game-changer occurred when Green, the second-overall selection in 2021, hurt his hamstring.
On November 27, Mathews started in place of the youthful prodigy and scored 20 points with five three-pointers against the Charlotte Hornets. The following game, he scored 19 points and made five more 3-pointers. He would go on to knock three or more triples in each of the following five games, including a contest against the Milwaukee Bucks in which he shot 6-of-11 from beyond the arc and scored a season-high 23 points.
Mathews scored in double digits in each of his first eight starts, averaging 17.0 points on 48.8% field shooting and 43.8 percent three-point shooting. The third-year guard answered with 17 and 16 points in his past two games, despite cooling down and failing to make a three in back-to-back games.
The Rockets have increased Mathews’ salary significantly.
Sources: The Rockets will utilize an available roster slot to sign Garrison Mathews to a four-year deal for more than $8 million. With Mathews in the starting lineup, Houston is 7-4. In those games, he averaged 14.5 points and 63.5 percent TS. https://t.co/sxWodXSPvi
December 18, 2021 — Tim MacMahon (@espn macmahon)
As far as NBA players go, Houston’s newest sniper, dubbed “Garry Bird” for his exploits, has been earning relatively little money. So, after more than two seasons of playing on a two-way minimum deal, Mathews is finally getting a decent salary.
The Rockets have signed Mathews to a long-term contract, converting his previous two-way contract, according to ESPN. The guard will allegedly earn just over $8 million over the next four years, putting him ahead of colleagues like Tate, Porter Jr., and Kenyon Martin Jr. in terms of yearly income.
Matthews described his thoughts to the media on Saturday, saying, “It’s a lot of emotions, simply because it’s taken me so long to get here.” “To be honest, I had given up hope that it would ever happen. I’m grateful to the owners, [general manager] Rafael [Stone, and everyone else who has given me this chance. I owe them a debt of gratitude for placing me in this position and awarding me this contract.”
Mathews has earned significant playing time as a knockdown shooter in the future, even if Green and Porter Jr. return to the starting lineup soon. And now his remuneration will reflect his significant accomplishments.
Basketball Reference provided all statistics, while Spotrac provided contract data.
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