Report: Knicks Signing Veteran Guard to Camp Deal

Here comes the Atlantic Sun's Player of the Year to New York Knicks training camp.

Per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, the Knicks are set to add Garrison Mathews on a training camp deal. Bondy notes that Mathews will compete with Landry Shamet, also signed on Thursday, for the final spot on the Knicks' regular roster.

Mathews, 28, spent the past two-plus seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, landing there through a trade with the Houston Rockets at the 2023 trade deadline. He averaged 7.5 points and 1.9 rebounds in that span and began his NBA endeavors with the Washington Wizards in 2019. During his time in Houston, which saw him earn the nickname "Garry Bird," he posted a career-best 10 points in 5 showings during the 2021-22 campaign.

Feb 1, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Garrison Mathews (24) shoots the ball against the Indiana Pacers in the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Mathews is perhaps best-known for his time at Lipscomb, where he became the Bisons' all-time scoring leader in their Division I endeavors. Under his watch, Lipscomb reached the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament for the first time in 2018 and he also guided them to the NIT championship final at Madison Square Garden in his last tour.

That last season also saw him win the aforementioned A-Sun Player of the Year title, an honor previously earned by NBA veterans Sam Mitchell, Anthony Johnson, and Torrey Craig, as well as former Westchester Knicks standout Brandon Goodwin. He would then enter the Association as an undrafted free agent.

If Mathews has a shot of making the Knicks' roster, it will likely come through his outside shooting, as he's averaging just under four tries a game with an extra point on line for his career. In his three tours with Atlanta, his success rate sat at just over 41 percent and he was fourth among qualified shooters in 2023-24 at an even 44.

"People don't understand how hard it is to shoot when someone is underneath you. But G-Bird, he doesn't care. He jumps like three meters forward when he shoots it. He just lets that thing fly," former Hawks teammate Dyson Daniels lauded in November 2024, per KL Chouinard of the Hawks' official site. "I love when G-Bird wants to shoot those shots, man. Sometimes I'll be like, 'Oh, that's a little too much,' but it goes in. So I'm like, 'He's allowed to do that.'"

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