Garrison Mathews is the Rockets' Best Player This Season… And it isn’t Close

The Houston Rockets have been in disarray all season long, currently holding the third worst record in the NBA. With Christian Wood underperforming, Eric Gordon and D.J. Augustin being the lone 30+ year-olds on the roster (while also being two of the worst defensive guards in the entire league), John Wall making over $40 million dollars to not play, and Jalen Green treating NBA games like the AAU, there has not been much to like in Houston this season. Like all things, however, there is always a bright spot or two. For the 2021-2022 Rockets, that bright spot is Garrison Mathews.

Mathews is a third-year player out of Lipscomb and has quietly been a solid player the last two seasons in the NBA for the Washington Wizards. This year with the Rockets, however, he has had by far his best season, averaging 11.5 points and 3.6 rebounds in 27.6 minutes per game. Not only this, but Mathews has been sound defensively on a team that has the worst rated defense in the league. Mathews currently leads the league in offensive fouls drawn with 39. This is 6 more than notable high-level defenders, Kyle Lowry, Derrick White, and Luguentz Dort. He has also done this while playing 450+ less minutes than all three of them.

On top of the defense, Garrison Mathews is shooting 37.7% from 3-point range on the season, and is at 39.3% from beyond the arc in 2022. He currently leads Houston in offensive, defensive, and total RAPTOR. Additionally, he leads the Rockets in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) at 3.3 and more than doubles Jae’Sean Tate’s 1.6 WAR, who ranks second on the team. Garrison Mathews +4.9 total RAPTOR puts him at 10^th in the entire league for players who have played 800+ minutes this season.

While Mathews will likely never be an elite player, he has been one of the few positives for a struggling Houston Rockets franchise in 2021-2022. His 123-offensive rating, silky smooth three-point stroke, and consistent effort on defense impressed the Rockets front office and they converted his two-way deal into a well-deserved 4-year contract on December 18^th, 2021.