The Houston Rockets defeated the Detroit Pistons in a tough 11 a.m. contest Saturday night and the story of the game was Garrison Mathews. Mathews had just signed his first long-term NBA contract hours before and followed it up with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, and 1 block on 6 of 12 shooting from the floor. He also made 4 of the 9 three-pointers he attempted, the very trait that delivered him this contract. Mathews was just playing with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the G League last month and has now started in 11 games for the Rockets. Stories like that are rare from two-way contract guys, which is why it was ironic of him to replace one of the last two-way guys that was like this: Danuel House.
“It's a good message,” said Stephen Silas on the signing. “It's a message that organizationally we're aligned as far as our G League team and our Rockets team. It says that if you play well then you will be rewarded.”
It's hard to argue Garrison Mathews didn't make this contract a no-brainer for Houston. In addition to playing his way into the starting lineup, his introduction spaced the floor to such an extent, the Rockets opened up a seven-game winning streak. He's averaging 12.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, 0.8 steals per game and shooting 36.8% from three-point range for Houston. He's also just been a ball of energy with a pension for making big plays in key moments (shots, dunks, drawn-charges, etc..).
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“It felt great,” said Garrison Mathews on receiving the contract. “It was funny. I got a text from Fred Katz (reporter who covered the Washington Wizards while Mathews was there) that said ‘Congrats' and I was like ‘What?'. Because I didn't know it hit the media yet. So, I'm super thankful. Very blessed to be in this situation.”
Mathews was aware that he was getting a four year, $8.2 million contract from the Rockets, but he didn't know that the news broke until he took a break from playing video games on Friday night to check social media.
“It's been a long road,” said Mathews. “It's taken a lot of hard work, a lot of people keeping me focused. I wouldn't be able to do it without the people around me. It's been tough. A lot of people don't know the situations and everything I had to go through to get here.”
Although it was a shrewd move, it didn't cost the Rockets anything to pick Mathews off of the waiver wire. However, it did require a lot of internal belief for Mathews to get a starting spot in a matter of two weeks with the team. The Rockets bet on him, that bet paid off, and both parties will go home better for it. It was your classic case of creating an asset out of a roster spot.
“And I'm super blessed and thankful for the opportunity,” said Garrison Mathews. “The owners, Rafael [Stone], and everybody's had my back since I've gotten here. And I'm very thankful for that.”
Mathews revealed that he was reluctant to sign his original two-way contract with the Boston Celtics. His agent, David Bauman, had to talk him out of quitting basketball to pursue something else. Bauman sold Mathews on the idea that it would be his best chance to eventually get a standard NBA deal. It looks like some pretty solid advice right now.
“I was honestly quite tired of it,” said Garrison Mathews on the process. “It's a tough contract to be on. It's tough fighting your way into the league like that. I felt and the people around me felt that I had done enough the year prior to get a standard contract and it just didn't work out this summer. I was frustrated. In my mind, I was like ‘Man it's never going to come.”
And obviously, it came. His journey should be a fun one to follow over the next few years.
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