Report: Cavs had interest in Garrison Mathews

By Jason Simpson
Updated: December 10, 2021

According to a report, the Cleveland Cavaliers had interest in shooting guard Garrison Mathews during this past offseason.

Mathews wound up signing with the Houston Rockets, but it sounds like Cleveland was at least intrigued by the idea of adding the 25-year-old.

“And while Mathews waited, the free agent market for guys on his level dried up quickly,” wrote David Aldridge of The Athletic. “Cleveland and Boston had interest, but the [Boston] Celtics had a roster crunch and could only offer Mathews a two-way deal and a season in the G League. Mathews didn’t have much of anything until the Rockets came calling in October, and all they had was another two-way offer.

“With nothing else cooking — Mathews was contemplating going into law enforcement if he couldn’t hook on somewhere — he took Houston’s offer.”

Mathews would have been an interesting addition for the Cavs. He adds a lot of value from beyond the arc and seems to be getting better with each passing season at the NBA level.

In the 2021-22 campaign, he’s averaging 12.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game while getting 27.8 minutes of action per contest. He’s playing the biggest role of his career so far with Houston, and he’s been up for the task.

This season, Mathews is shooting 40.0 percent from beyond the arc, and for his career, he’s a 39.2 percent shooter from 3-point range.

Fans can only speculate about what type of impact he would have made on the Cavs. Cleveland is doing just fine without him, however, as the team is silencing its doubters with a solid 14-12 start to the 2021-22 season.