Peachtree Hoops: 2023-24 Atlanta Hawks player review: Garrison Mathews

[Hawksquawk]

Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images

A late addition in 2022-23, Garrison Mathews elevated his game this season in Atlanta.

When the final buzzer sounded on the 2022-23 Atlanta Hawks regular season — a throwaway game against the Boston Celtics — despite 19 points from Atlanta Hawks wingman Garrison Mathews, I came away with the feeling that Mathews hadn’t shown the flashes I thought he was capable of after joining Atlanta late in the season in a February trade with the Houston Rockets. I had hoped that Mathews would rejoin the team in 2023-24 to show what he was really capable of.

Sure enough, the Hawks brought Mathews back for the 2023-24 season, and while he didn’t begin the season as a member of the rotation, by December he was seeing regular minutes for the Hawks, eventually featured in 66 games and averaging 15 minutes per game.

Mathews, first and foremost, is a specialist, a three-point shooter, so his averages in terms of points per game perhaps aren’t quite as relevant as his percentages are — many of which saw career-highs this season in Atlanta. Mathews averaged 4.9 points per game on a career-best 45.6% shooting from the field and a career-high 44% from three on 2.9 attempts per game, the fourth best qualifying three-point percentage in the entire NBA this season. He may not be the volume shooter others may be in that top-5, but what Mathews took from outside he more often than not made.

Mathews didn’t start the season in the rotation, but when he got his opportunity through injuries to others, he made it count — and he was healthy himself throughout the season which certainly counted in his favor. There were times where Mathews would start in positions that would normally be perhaps out of his depth in the frontcourt, but various injuries to Jalen Johnson, Saddiq Bey and Jalen Johnson sometimes necessitated Mathews’ starting role. One such occasion was a December loss to the Denver Nuggets at home.

For much of the season the message has been the same for Mathews: just shoot it. That’s what Hawks head coach Quin Snyder would preach. After all, with Mathews being a high-percentage shooter, it’s no wonder that 85% of his shots this season were threes — 92% pre-All-Star break. But the Hawks challenged Mathews to open his game, and with his three-point shot needing to be respected, it opened up opportunities for Mathews to put the ball on the floor more as he faked opponents out.

“They’ve been working with me a lot on putting the ball on the floor and try and make plays for others,” said Mathews during the Hawks’ exit interviews. “Trying to use my shooting ability to get off the line and get downhill a little bit, shoot a floater or whatever it is. It’s something that he’s (Snyder) been harping on, and my player development guy has been helping me a lot with. It’s important for me to be able to do other things than just shoot the ball.”

This was more so the case after the All-Star break. Before the break, Mathews averaged just 2.5 field goal attempts per game and 2.3 of those were threes. Post break, Mathews averaged 4.7 shot attempts with 3.8 of those being three-point attempts. It may not seem like much, but it’s noteworthy for Mathews and his development.

Plays like this happened with more frequency, where he fakes on the three-point line and gets into a floater:

Mathews has just gotten more comfortable with the ball in his hands and working a little more off the dribble, moving himself away from the perception he’s just a shooter:

Mathews’ development in this area of his game has helped take it to the next level, and it would be great to see it continue to evolve should he return to Atlanta next season.

Mathews also developed a close relationship with Dejounte Murray, speaking to his admiration of the Hawks guard.

“He’s an incredible teammate,” said Mathews of Murray. “He not only cares about you as a player but as a person. He’s a great leader. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him ... off the court he’s fun to be around, he’s a great dude and he cares about people, people are drawn to that.”

Murray was also asked about Mathews, and gave him a ringing endorsement on and off the court.

“Number one, he’s a great person,” said Murray of Mathews. “I love him a lot, just the person he is, and his work ethic speaks for itself. Every morning he’s in here, he practices after practice, he’s in the gym, he’s in the weight room, he’s taking care of himself and he’s available. A guy like that, I’m just happy to see someone like that get the success he was getting over the course of the season. I think he made a name for himself. Whether it’s here or wherever it’s at, I hope somebody gives him his worth and he gets a bunch of guaranteed years in the NBA because he deserves to be a guy in a rotation on a team.”

Murray’s last point on Mathews poses an interesting question heading into the offseason: Would there be a team that would offer Mathews a multi-year deal in free agency? It would be interesting to speculate, but only if he indeed hits free agency.

The Hawks currently have a team option available to them to exercise on Mathews for 2024-25 and I would be surprised if this wasn’t exercised given Mathews’ contributions. Never say never in the NBA, but given his shooting prowess and his availability and what it meant to the Hawks in an injury-hit season, it would be a bit of a surprise not to see him in Atlanta next season.

Overall, it was an encouraging season for Garrison Mathews, his best in the NBA so far in terms of shooting the basketball, and the work continues to expand his game beyond the three-point line.

View the full article