The Hawks intend to guarantee Garrison Mathews‘ contract for the 2023/24 season, a league source tells Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).
Today was the deadline for Atlanta to determine what to do with Mathews, whose $2MM salary was non-guaranteed. According to Williams, Mathews will now receive his full salary after being acquired via trade in February.
Guaranteeing Mathews’ deal makes sense for a few different reasons. The Hawks could simply value what he provides on the court, as he draws a lot of attention with his outside shooting (36.7% career from three on high volume) and gets to the free throw line at a solid clip. The guard’s salary is slightly less than the projected cap hit for a player on a veteran’s minimum salary, making him very affordable.
Keeping Mathews also means he could be included in trades in the future. The Hawks hold a non-guaranteed $2.23MM team option on his salary for ’24/25. Overall, the 26-year-old had a modest role with Houston and Atlanta last season, averaging 4.8 points while shooting 35% from deep in 54 games (12.7 minutes per night).
Now sign D Wilkins