Washington Wizards: Where is Garrison Mathews? Part 2

With the Washington Wizards starting the season off to a slow 0-3 start, some lineup changes may be useful. So why not give sharpshooter Garrison Mathews a chance?

During the middle of last season here at Wiz of Awes, we released an article about young Wizards sharpshooter Garrison Mathews. Mathews, who went undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft before signing a two-way deal with the Wizards last season, played well in limited action. But impressive performances weren’t winning him more minutes.

Well, here we are again, almost a year later. The Wizards are 0-3, which can be attributed to some rather…questionable decisions by Scott Brooks regarding lineups and playing time.

And throughout all of those losses, we have yet to see Mathews take the floor for the Wizards. None of Brooks’ experimental lineups have included the two-way sharpshooter. Mathews was inactive for each of the Wizards’ first three games. So as fans pull their hair out and yell, “What is Scotty doing!?” at the television, we once again ask, where is Garrison Mathews?

Garrison Mathews: By the Numbers

All Garrison Mathews has done since entering the NBA is knock down threes. He has yet to play this season, but in his limited minutes last season, he shot 42 percent from the field. 19 of the 24 shots Mathews made last season were threes.

Now again, this was a small sample size. Mathews appeared in just 18 NBA games last season. He got less than nine minutes in eight of those games. But he made his limited appearances count. When the Wizards were decimated with injury last season during December and January, Mathews exploded for a 28-point game vs. Miami and an 18-point game vs. Portland. Mathews had at least four made threes in each game and shot 66.7 percent from the field both times.  You’d think if a guy is knocking down shots like that, he should get more opportunities.

One roadblock that added to Mathews’ lack of playing time last season was a lingering ankle injury. But all reports now are that he’s fully healthy.

The other roadblock was him being on a two-way contract, which limits players to only being with the NBA team for 45 days, and the rest of the season is spent with the G-league affiliate. Mathews is once again on a two-way deal this season. However, converting a two-way contract to a fully guaranteed contract is not all that hard, nor will it cost the Wizards much.

So with all of that being said, if he 1) is healthy and 2) can knock down shots. What is the deal?