On Thursday afternoon, Stefan Bondy of the New York Post reported that former Atlanta Hawks guard Garrison Mathews plans to sign a training camp deal with the... Knicks. The 28-year-old guard spent the last two and a half seasons in Atlanta.
Mathews is a player who was on the radar of several teams in free agency. He shot 41.3% from three with the Hawks and is coming off a season in which he averaged 7.5 points in 47 games, his best in Atlanta. He shot a career-high 44% from deep in the 2023-24 season, heightening his expectations for last season.
You can never have too many three-point shooters in today's NBA, especially not if you're trying to end a 50+ year championship drought like New York is. In a couple of weeks, Mathews will have the chance to prove that he deserves to stay with the Knicks behind the preseason, competing with Landry Shamet for a roster spot.
Shortly before Bondy reported the Mathews deal, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania tweeted that the Knicks were signing Shamet to a one-year contract. Bondy reported Shamet's deal is non-guaranteed.
Garrison Mathews one-year deal with the Knicks is confirmed to The Post by his agent, David Bauman, partner at the Familie.
— Stefan Bondy (@SbondyNBA) September 11, 2025
Mathews will compete with Landry Shamet for the roster spot. Shamet’s one-year deal with the Knicks is non guaranteed, the Post has learned. https://t.co/SqPXUsU6N9
For a Hawks fan, it's hard not to root for Mathews, but going to New York will make that easier.
Knicks to sign Garrison Mathews to training camp deal
Mathews went undrafted in 2019 but has managed to stick around in the NBA since then, establishing himself as a reliable three-point shooter.
The Knicks shot 36.9% from three-point range last season, the eighth-highest percentage in the league, but they attempted an average of 34.1 three-pointers per game, the fourth-lowest mark in the NBA.
That's an area that Mathews could help in, with the overwhelming majority of his shot attempts throughout his career coming from deep. He led the league last season in his corner three-point percentage for players with a minimum of 50 attempts, shooting 58%.
Garrison Mathews is the crown jewel of free agency https://t.co/LExuKvfdwD pic.twitter.com/rJFzGQXwVb
— Owen Phillips (@owenlhjphillips) July 31, 2025
Shamet has an advantage over Mathews, as he spent last season with the Knicks. He dislocated his shoulder during a preseason game, but New York eventually re-signed him after he was waived. He played 50 games for the Knicks, shooting 39.7% from three on 3.1 attempts per game.
Tom Thibodeau spoke highly of Shamet, but Mike Brown is New York's head coach now. He could give the edge to Mathews. That isn't a training camp battle that Hawks fans will pay much attention to (if at all).
Atlanta's first game of the season against New York will be on Dec. 27, so if Mathews does get the roster spot, it'll be a few months until the Hawks face him.