One of the best shooters in the NBA last season, Garrison Mathews will serve as a nice depth piece for the 2024-25 Atlanta Hawks.
Entering his sixth year in the NBA, and second full season with the Atlanta Hawks, Garrison Mathews has reaffirmed his status as one of the league’s premier low-usage/high-volume three-point threats. While he might not see as many minutes this season as he did in 2023-24, Mathews’ three-point shooting, grit, as well as his fit and familiarity with Atlanta’s system will make him a valuable option off of the bench whenever his number is called.
Mathews joined the Hawks at the 2022-23 trade deadline after beginning his career with stints in Washington and Houston. Though he had established himself as a serviceable role-player in his first three-and-a-half seasons*, averaging 18 minutes a night in 197 appearances for the Wizards and Rockets, his three-point percentage had declined in each season since he entered the league and he was shooting just 34.2% from deep during his final season in Houston — below the league-average for the first time in his career.
*Mathews spent his first two seasons in Washington on a two-way contract and started off in Houston on another two-way before having his contract converted to a 4-year/$8.23-million regular-season contract. Mathews is in the final year of that contract this season.
With 85% of his career field-goal attempts coming from beyond the arc, 96% of his three-point makes being assisted by a teammate, and assist and rebounding percentages that routinely rank below the league-average for his position, Mathews is a three-point specialist, and given his shooting slump in Houston prior to being traded, expectations for him were relatively tame when he arrived in Atlanta.
He played just 84 (mostly garbage time) minutes for the Hawks after being acquired in 2022-23, going 10-for-25 (40%) from beyond the arc in his limited action, and the team brought him back for the 2023-24 season in what all parties likely imagined would be a similar, low-minutes role. However, due to the numerous injuries Atlanta faced, as well as their lack of depth and three-point shooting on the wing, Mathews was thrust into a bigger role than anticipated last season, and he certainly made the most of the opportunity.
Appearing in a career-high 66 games last season, Mathews ranked fourth in the league in three-point percentage*, shooting a blistering 44% from beyond the arc. Though he only averaged 15 minutes per game, and posted a usage rate of just 11.1%**, Mathews took over nine threes per 100 possessions, and the threat that he posed from beyond the arc helped provide some much needed spacing for what was, at times, a cramped Hawks’ offense.
*Amongst players with at least 150 three-point attempts (226 players)
**the second lowest usage rate on the team
While Mathews’ three-point accuracy was extremely impressive, what really stood out to me when digging through his shooting numbers from last season was how well he shot irrespective of how much space he was afforded by the defense to get a shot off.
Looking at his ‘Closest Defender’ shooting numbers (above), you can see that while Mathews has been efficient when afforded space over the past three seasons, he shot an incredible 26-for-58 (44.8%) when his closest defender was within 4-feet of him in 2023-24, and I’ll be curious to see if he can sustain his efficiency on these type of shots going forward.
Additionally, while Mathews’ assist numbers have never been particularly gaudy (seeing as his primary job is to shoot the basketball), he is an underrated ‘connector’ on the offensive end, and I was impressed with how he utilized his gravity to create opportunities for his teammates last season.
On the defensive end, Mathews has never quite been a needle-mover, and his defensive EPM ranked in just fifth percentile amongst all players per dunksandthrees. That being said, I’ve always admired his hustle, and it’s worth noting that he finished ninth in the league in total charges drawn last season (15). Though Mathews is far from a ‘lock-down’ defensive player, he will not be faulted for a lack of effort on the less glamorous end of the floor this season.
When considering Mathews’ role on the 2024-25 Hawks roster, despite being one of the best shooters on the team, I think that it’s unlikely that he plays as much as he did last season*. Dyson Daniels and Bogdan Bogdanovic are likely to soak up the majority minutes at the ‘2’, and, through the first few preseason games, it appears that both Kobe Bufkin and Vit Krejci are ahead of him in the backcourt pecking order as well.
*Mathews finished ninth on the team in total minutes played last season.
Still, given his volume and proficiency from beyond the three-point line, Mathews’ skillset will be quite valuable if Bogdan Bogdanovic or one of Atlanta’s other high-volume three-point shooters misses time this season, and, if nothing else, he will certainly help boost the team’s offensive firepower whenever he touches the court.
Additionally, despite the fact that he only turns 28 later this month, Mathews is oddly one of the elder statesmen on this young Hawks’ roster*, a role he appears to be ready to embrace this coming season, saying at media day:
*Including Cody Zeller, Mathews is the fifth oldest player on Atlanta’s 2024-25 roster.
We definitely got a younger squad, and now, coming up on my sixth year, I’ve been around, I’ve played a lot, I’ve sat on the bench, I’ve seen a little bit of everything. I think with these young guys it’s important to stay patient and just compete. Competing is one of the biggest things, and if you don’t compete every single night it’s going to be tough to stay in this league.
Mathews’ experience, competitiveness and outside shooting will make him a nice depth piece for the Atlanta Hawks this season.
Note: All statistics/videos used in this article are from pbpstats.com, nba.com/stats, basketballreference.com or cleaningtheglass.com.