The Rockets will guarantee the salaries of both Garrison Mathews and Kenyon Martin Jr. for next season, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
Both players had non-guaranteed contracts for 2022-23, but Houston decided to reward them for their efforts this season. Mathews is set to earn $2M next season, while Martin will make $1,782,621, per Spotrac.
Mathews, 25, started the season on a two-way contract but was later converted to a standard deal after several strong performances in place of the injured Jalen Green. Through 49 games (27.2 MPG) this season, including 21 starts, Mathews is averaging 11.0 points and 3.2 rebounds on .410/.367/.810 shooting, good for a 61.4 true shooting percentage. His relatively low field-goal percentage is deceiving, because 82% of his attempts have come from three-point range.
Martin, 21, was the No. 52 overall pick of the 2020 draft. He’s in his second season with the Rockets, and his stats from the two seasons are quite similar. He’s averaging 8.9 points and 3.9 rebounds this season (20.6 MPG, 63 games) after putting up 9.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest last season (23.7 MPG, 45 games). Martin is a hyper-athletic forward and has some amassed some impressive highlights in his short career.
As MacMahon observes, both players have proved to be valuable role players for the young Rockets, who view the two as pieces of their long-term plans. The rebuilding team is currently 17-49, the second-worst record in the league, as shown in our reverse standings.
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