Garrison Mathews Rumors

Hawks Notes: Young, Snyder, Mathews, Hunter

March 25th, 2023 at 9:53pm CST by Arthur Hill

Hawks guard Trae Young faces a fine and a possible suspension after being ejected from Saturday’s game for firing the ball at an official (video link), writes Charles Odum of The Associated Press.

Young was apparently upset over a technical he received seconds earlier after being whistled for sticking out his leg to draw contact on a three-point shot. During a time out, Young threw the ball hard at referee Scott Wall, who caught it and then tossed Young out of the game.

“It’s just a play he can’t make,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “I told him that. He knows it.”

The technicals brought Young’s total for the season to 15, which is one short of an automatic suspension. With Atlanta fighting for playoff seeding at 37-37, a one-game absence for its leading scorer could be critical.

Snyder said Young admitted a lapse in judgment, adding, “There wasn’t a single part of him that tried to rationalize what happened.”

There’s more from Atlanta:

Snyder has only been the Hawks’ coach for about a month, but he believes the players are buying into his philosophy, per Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Snyder’s priority after taking over in late February was to instill an emphasis on defense. “I think we’re just trying to continue to emphasize certain habits defensively, that I think we saw some progress and some of those just everything that we can do to help us protect the paint,” he said, “beginning with getting back on defense and having a wall where they see bodies through a possession, or pick up points, people getting into bodies and being blocked, not getting beat in the middle, or we can help each other getting hits on the boards or protect the paint that way.”
Garrison Mathews, who was acquired from Houston at the trade deadline, asked Snyder what he needs to do to get more playing time, tweets Kevin Chouinard of Hawks.com. Mathews has only appeared in five games with Atlanta and is averaging 7.6 minutes per night. Snyder said his status is a result of circumstances, but added, “He’s a tough player. You can always use tough players.”
De’Andre Hunter missed today’s game with a left knee contusion, Williams tweets. His status for Sunday’s contest against Memphis hasn’t been announced.

Rockets’ Green, Tate Suspended One Game By NBA

January 15th, 2023 at 10:44am CST by Luke Adams

Rockets guard Jalen Green and forward Jae’Sean Tate have each been suspended one game without pay for leaving the bench area during an on-court altercation on Friday in Sacramento, the league announced today (via Twitter).

As we previously detailed, the skirmish began in the fourth quarter of Sacramento’s win over Houston when Kings guard Malik Monk took exception to a loose-ball foul committed by Rockets guard Garrison Mathews (Twitter video link via Bleacher Report).

Following an official review, referees ejected both Monk and Mathews, along with Kings big man Chimezie Metu, who was called an “escalator,” and Rockets forward Tari Eason, who was referred to as an “instigator,” according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee.

The players directly involved in the incident escaped without suspensions, though the NBA has fined Mathews $35K and Monk $25K. The league deemed Mathews to be the instigator of the altercation, but said Monk continued it, with both players taunting one another.

While Metu won’t face an additional penalty, Eason has been fined $30K for escalating the fracas and making inadvertent contact with a game official, per the NBA.

Green and Tate weren’t directly involved in the incident, but a player who is not already in the game and leaves the bench in a situation like this one automatically receives a one-game ban. Orlando, for instance, recently had eight players hit with one-game suspensions for doing the same thing during an altercation in Detroit.

Green and Tate will serve their suspensions on Sunday when the Rockets visit the Clippers. They’ll lose 1/145th of their full-season salaries, which works out to about $65K for Green and $49K for Tate.

Rockets Notes: Mathews, Eason, Green, Tate, Gordon, Silas

January 14th, 2023 at 9:10am CST by Luke Adams

After Kings guard Malik Monk took exception to a loose-ball foul committed by Rockets guard Garrison Mathews in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s contest in Sacramento, a brief on-court fracas broke out between the two teams (Twitter video link via Bleacher Report).

Following an official review, referees ejected both Monk and Mathews, along with Kings big man Chimezie Metu, who was deemed an “escalator,” and Rockets forward Tari Eason, dubbed an “instigator,” according to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee.

Fines or suspensions could follow for the four players ejected from Friday’s game, and two more Rockets players could be in danger of one-game bans, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Jalen Green and Jae’Sean Tate both left the bench area during the altercation, which typically results in an automatic one-game suspension from the NBA. Orlando recently had eight players receive one-game suspensions for similar violations.

Here’s more on the Rockets:

With Eric Gordon once again on the trade block in Houston, Kelly Iko of The Athletic tries to find a deal that would make sense for both the Rockets and a potential trade partner. Iko cautions that expectations about Gordon’s value should be tempered — three of his four suggestions don’t involve Houston acquiring a first-round pick, and the one scenario that does include a first-rounder sees the Rockets taking on Richaun Holmes‘ multiyear contract from Sacramento.
The 10-32 Rockets are in danger of finishing with the NBA’s worst record for the third straight year, and Stephen Silas, who now has a 47-149 (.240) since becoming the club’s head coach, is no lock to coach the team beyond this season — or even for the rest of this season. Exploring that possibility, Jerome Solomon of The Houston Chronicle argues that Silas deserves better and has been dealt a terrible hand since getting his first head coaching job.
After making 33 starts and averaging a career-high 26.3 minutes per game last season, Garrison Mathews has come exclusively off the bench in 2022/23 and is playing just 12.7 MPG. However, he’s taking the demotion in stride and trying to make an impact in his limited role, writes Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle. “It’s my role, and I’ve got to try to do it the best I can,” Mathews said. “I gotta go out there and hit shots. And if I don’t, then that’s my role. So I gotta be able to do that.”
The Rockets’ defense has been bad during their current slide (nine straight losses, 14 in their last 15 games), and those issues go beyond the team’s talent on that side of the ball, Lerner writes in another Chronicle story. According to Lerner, it often appears that Houston’s defensive effort is lacking, with basic assignments missed, especially in transition. The Rockets are allowing an NBA-worst 26.2 transition points per game this season, per NBA.com.

Western Notes: Lakers, Nuggets, Rockets, Potter, Liddell, Spurs

October 17th, 2022 at 12:57pm CST by Luke Adams

Although he didn’t play in the Lakers‘ preseason finale on Friday due to lower back soreness, Anthony Davis will have “no restrictions, whatsoever” when the team’s regular season tips off on Tuesday in Golden State, head coach Darvin Ham said (link via Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times).

Russell Westbrook, who sustained a left hamstring injury in Friday’s game, could “definitely” be available for the opener, according to Ham, but reserve point guard Dennis Schröder likely won’t be, as Turner writes.

Ham said that Schröder’s thumb ligament injury was still being evaluated as of Sunday, and while he’s still considered day-to-day, the ailment may take a little time to heal, tweets Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Nikola Jokic (wrist) and Jamal Murray (hamstring) are both expected to be available for the Nuggets‘ regular season opener on Wednesday in Utah, writes Mike Singer of The Denver Post. Barring an unexpected setback, it will be the first time Denver’s two stars have shared the court in a regular season game since April 2021.
The Rockets will likely have a handful of players on the injury report to start the season, but head coach Stephen Silas said on Sunday that he’s hopeful rookie Jabari Smith (ankle) will be available for the team’s opener, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Silas added that Garrison Mathews (illness) and Daishen Nix (back) are “close” to being ready too. Jae’Sean Tate (ankle) is the least likely of the group to be available for the opener, Feigen writes.
The two-way contracts signed in recent days by Jazz center Micah Potter and Pelicans forward E.J. Liddell both cover two years, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. As our tracker shows, those are the fifth and sixth two-way deals signed this offseason that are for two years instead of one.
Noting that the Spurs have had “so many guys over the years” develop their games in the G League, head coach Gregg Popovich said two-way players Dominick Barlow and Jordan Hall will likely spend most of their time in Austin this season, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “He’ll spend some time in the G League and play lots of minutes,” Popovich said, specifically addressing Barlow’s situation. “If he was with us right now, he’s not going to get on the court that much, which doesn’t help him develop.”

Rockets Notes: Tate, Mathews, Offense, Smith, Silas, Gordon

October 6th, 2022 at 11:46pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Rockets guard Garrison Mathews and forward Jae’Sean Tate have returned to the team’s active lineup and are eager to work with their new colleagues, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle.

“We have a bunch of new guys so it’s important to play with everybody,” Mathews said. “Everybody’s different this year. We have a bunch of athletic guys, a bunch of guys that can guard. For me, my job stays the same, space, play hard, take charges. That’s (my) main job.”

Tate, meanwhile, is looking to mesh with his new compatriots on defense.

“I think it’s ultimately just to get more chemistry,” Tate said. “Shots are going to come; shots are going to fall throughout the season. Really, my main focus throughout this training camp is to get our communication down, especially on the defensive end, knowing we can trust each other. If we make mistakes or miss gambles, just have that chemistry.”

There’s more out of Houston:

The Rockets have plenty of talent on offense, but the club will have to figure out a way to get its sometimes-disparate pieces in sync, opines Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Head coach Stephen Silas and his staff are cooking up creative new ways to incorporate his best players on the hardwood together, though there have been some growing pains. “Our biggest concern — we have a lot of guys who can score — is whether they’re going to share the basketball,” assistant coach John Lucas said. “If they’re going to share the basketball, we’re going to have great continuity, great shots. If we don’t worry about who’s getting what shots, we’ll be very good.”
Rockets rookie lottery selection Jabari Smith Jr. suffered a left ankle sprain during the team’s Wednesday practice and will miss Houston’s Friday preseason contest with the Raptors, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “I would say it was more precautionary” than anything else, noted assistant coach John Lucas, who has been running practices with Stephen Silas currently sidelined. Silas has missed the team’s last three practices while in the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols, though the team hopes he will return in time for tomorrow’s Raptors game, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle in a separate piece.
Veteran Rockets shooting guard Eric Gordon has changed agencies, sources inform Kelly Iko of The Athletic (Twitter link). Gordon – who is under contract through 2024, albeit with a non-guaranteed salary next season – has departed longtime representatives Landmark Sports Agency in favor of CAA.

Rockets To Guarantee Salaries Of Garrison Mathews, K.J. Martin For 2022/23

March 11th, 2022 at 4:34pm CST by Rory Maher

The Rockets will guarantee the salaries of both Garrison Mathews and Kenyon Martin Jr. for next season, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon (Twitter link).

Both players had non-guaranteed contracts for 2022/23, but Houston decided to reward them for their efforts this season. Mathews is set to earn $2MM next season, while Martin will make $1,782,621, per Spotrac.

Mathews, 25, started the season on a two-way contract but was later converted to a standard deal after several strong performances in place of the injured Jalen Green.

Through 49 games (27.2 MPG) this season, including 21 starts, Mathews is averaging 11.0 PPG and 3.2 RPG on .410/.367/.810 shooting, good for a 61.4 true shooting percentage. His relatively low field goal percentage is deceiving, because 82% of his attempts have come from three-point range.

Martin, 21, was the No. 52 overall pick of the 2020 draft. He’s in his second season with the Rockets, and his stats from the two seasons are quite similar.

He’s averaging 8.9 PPG and 3.9 RPG this season (20.6 MPG, 63 games) after putting up 9.3 PPG and 5.4 RPG last season (23.7 MPG, 45 games). Martin is a hyper-athletic forward and has some amassed some impressive highlights in his short career.

As MacMahon observes (via Twitter), both players have proven to be valuable role players for the young Rockets, who view the two as pieces of their long-term plans. The rebuilding team is currently 17-49, the second-worst record in the league, as shown in our reverse standings.

Rockets Notes: Silas, Mathews, Wood, Porter, Sengun

January 4th, 2022 at 12:52pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Rockets lost big on Monday night in Philadelphia with Christian Wood and Kevin Porter Jr. both serving a one-game suspension, but coach Stephen Silas said the game with the Sixers wasn’t a consideration in deciding how to discipline two of his starters, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Both players were suspended for their actions on Saturday, with Wood being late for a COVID-19 test and refusing to enter the game in the second half and Porter leaving the arena at halftime after a confrontation with assistant coach John Lucas.

Silas, the son of former NBA player and coach Paul Silas, said he turned to his father’s advice of “follow your gut” in deciding how to handle the situation. Especially with a young team, he believes it’s more important to set boundaries about proper behavior than to worry about the results of one game.

“There isn’t a balance (between winning and disciplining) to me,” Silas said. “There’s doing what’s right and doing what’s best for this organization. That’s how you build culture. You do it through a lot of different things. Accountability is huge, making sure everybody knows what is acceptable and is not acceptable and learning from that. That’s the big part, learning from those moments and learning from those experiences so we can improve and we can be better.”

There’s more on the Rockets:

Garrison Mathews tied his season high with 23 points Monday shortly after clearing the league’s health and safety protocols, Feigen adds in the same story. Mathews described his time off as “boring” and was happy to be back on the court. “From the jump, I felt good,” he said. “Having six, seven days off, it’s hard to take that many days off and come back and get right to it. My body felt fresh. It wasn’t sore like it was before. It was good to have a few days off, but when you take seven days off, your conditioning starts to wear down at the end.”
In the wake of Saturday’s incident, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated believes the Rockets should get rid of Porter and Wood as soon as possible, even if that means waiving Porter, whose contract is guaranteed for $3.2MM next season. Mannix also criticizes general manager Rafael Stone for assembling the current roster, which Mannix claims is becoming a distraction for talented young players such as Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun and Jae’Sean Tate, and for having Silas deal with the media whenever there’s a personnel issue.
Fans have been calling for Sengun to get more playing time, but the rookie center told a Turkish magazine that the Rockets are bringing him along slowly so he can adjust to the NBA, relays Matt Young of The Houston Chronicle. “(The Rockets) played nine games in 15 days, we used to play nine games in nine weeks in Turkey, we did it in two weeks here,” Sengun said. “It’s hard to get used to it right away.”

COVID-19 Updates: Magic, Trail Blazers, Rockets, Pacers

January 2nd, 2022 at 2:39pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Here are the latest updates on players and coaches entering and exiting the NBA’s coronavirus health and safety protocols:

Four Magic players have cleared the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols and will suit up for Orlando against the Celtics. The team has announced (Twitter link) that center Mohamed Bamba, shooting guard Mychal Mulder, swingman Terrence Ross and point guard Hassani Gravett are all now available.
Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, who has been unavailable since December 27, has exited the NBA’s coronavirus protocols, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Portland lead assistant Scott Brooks, who had been serving in Billups’s stead as acting head coach, has entered COVID-19 protocols, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Hardship signee Cameron McGriff has entered the protocols, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter). Combo guard Anfernee Simons has left protocols after just three days, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The 13-22 Trail Blazers could certainly use all the help they can get, and the return of the 6’3″ guard will help shore up a team still missing seven players to health and safety protocols, with McGriff now replacing Simons in coronavirus protocols.
Rockets wing Garrison Mathews has cleared the NBA’s health and safety protocols, per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Houston rewarded Mathews for a solid performance early in the 2021/22 season by converting his two-way contract into a fresh four-year, $8MM deal last month.
Pacers small forwards Caris LeVert and T.J. Warren, plus center Goga Bitadze, have entered the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Warren has been dealing with a major foot injury since the start of 2020/21, and has only played in four games over the past two seasons. Today’s news brings Indiana’s total count for players in protocols to eight.
After exiting the protocols on Friday, Pistons guard Cory Joseph has re-entered them, tweets Rod Beard of The Detroit News.

Western Notes: Reed, Morant, Bane, Mathews, Chriss

December 28th, 2021 at 9:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nuggets are exploring ways to keep Davon Reed beyond his second 10-day contract, Mike Singer of the Denver Post reports. Coach Michael Malone confirmed Singer’s report on Tuesday, Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports tweets.

“Hopefully there’s a way we keep Davon in a Nuggets uniform for a while moving forward,” Malone said.

Reed has appeared in eight games since joining the Nuggets, averaging 5.1 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 17.0 MPG. His second 10-day deal expires on Tuesday night.

We have more from the Western Conference:

The Grizzlies’ backcourt of Ja Morant and Desmond Bane is quickly developing into one of the league’s best, Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal writes. “He’s a professional scorer,” Morant said of Bane. The second-year shooting guard has lifted his scoring average from 9.2 PPG during his rookie campaign to 17.2 this season, putting him in the discussion for the league’s Most Improved Player.
Garrison Mathews was grateful to receive a four-year contract from the Rockets after fighting for years to earn an NBA job, he told Kelly Iko of The Athletic. “Those two-way contracts, they’re hard to get out of. Because with two-way contracts, there’s not a lot of opportunities,” he said. “Then you’re in restricted free agency. It’s just tough, man. A lot of people go through it, and it’s hard. So, a lot of relief, a lot of thankfulness, honestly.” Mathews’ four-year contract is worth $8.2MM, with a $2MM guaranteed salary this season.
Marquese Chriss worked out for the Mavericks a couple of weeks before they signed him to a 10-day contract under the hardship exemption, Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News tweets. At the time, there was no roster spot open for Chriss, who has averaged 6.3 PPG and 4.8 RPG in four games.

COVID-19 Updates: Suns, Blazers, Rockets, Wolves, More

December 26th, 2021 at 9:20pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are the latest health and safety protocols updates from around the NBA:

Entering the protocols:

Jae Crowder and Elfrid Payton have become the first two Suns players to enter the COVID-19 protocols, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
The Trail Blazers‘ outbreak continues to grow, with Jusuf Nurkic and Cody Zeller among the players now in the protocols, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Seven Portland players have been placed in the protocols since Friday.
Rockets guard Garrison Mathews became the second Houston guard to enter the protocols today, joining teammate D.J. Augustin, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).
Timberwolves big man Naz Reid is now in the health and safety protocols, bringing Minnesota’s list of affected players up to eight, tweets Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.
The Thunder announced today that they’ve placed rookie guard Tre Mann in the protocols. Oklahoma City now has two players affected — Mann and Darius Bazley.

Exiting the protocols:

Point guard De’Aaron Fox returned to action on Sunday when the Kings hosted Memphis. Fox had been in the health and safety protocols since December 16.
A pair of Timberwolves – Patrick Beverley and Josh Okogie – are no longer in the health and safety protocols, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. They’re both listed as questionable for Monday’s game vs. Boston.
Clippers forward Marcus Morris has cleared the health and safety protocols, though he remained inactive on Sunday as he goes through a reconditioning period, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
Cavaliers wing RJ Nembhard was no longer listed on the team’s injury report on Sunday and played vs. Toronto, so he’s out of the protocols. Isaac Okoro has exited the protocols too, though he’s still working his way back, according to head coach J.B. Bickerstaff (Twitter link via Kelsey Russo of The Athletic).