Garrison Mathews was competing for a roster spot with the New York Knicks not too long ago. Now, he’s set to join the Indiana Pacers, representing the road not traveled for these Knicks.
Spoiler alert: New York has no regrets. And Landry Shamet is the entire reason why.
Garrison Mathews caught the Knicks’ attention in preseason
Mathews, who HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto says will be signing a 10-day contract with the injury-decimated Pacers, turned heads during his four preseason appearances with the Knicks. He canned 41.2 percent of his triples (7-of-17), while operating in steady, verging on relentless motion.
The Indiana Pacers plan to sign Garrison Mathews with a hardship exception, league sources told @hoopshype. Matthews has averaged 6.5 points and shot 38.2% from 3-point range in his career with the Washington Wizards, Houston Rockets, and Atlanta Hawks. pic.twitter.com/HQb2nuTImD
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) November 20, 2025
Indiana’s interest in him makes sense. And not just because the team is running low on available bodies.
Mathews’ brand of constant-movement offense is perfect for a team looking to play fast. That is what drew the Knicks to him. Though the offense is not speeding things up at the moment, Mike Brown arrived espousing the importance and benefits of playing at a faster clip.
This seemed to give Mathews an outside shot of making the roster. Especially after Malcolm Brogdon’s sudden retirement. The Knicks wound up going with a more familiar face in Shamet. And while it’s still early, they very clearly made the right call.
Landry Shamet has turned into one of the NBA’s best bargains
Go ahead and name another minimum-contract signing having a bigger impact on his team than Shamet. Tim Hardaway Jr. in Denver springs to mind. Sandro Mamukelashvili in Toronto is another.
Whatever the final list looks like, Shamet is at or near the top of it. He has not only brought a much-needed level of flame-throwing from beyond the arc, but he continues to showcase scrappiness and effort on the defensive end, where he has frequently needed to line up versus guards and forwards bigger than himself. He has also emerged as Brown’s preferred starter when the Knicks are down one.
Shamet is over-delivering on New York’s decision to choose him instead of Mathews. He is averaging 16.1 points and 7.6 three-point attempts per 36 minutes while knocking down 42.4 percent of his triples. Here is every player matching those benchmarks in as much playing time: Hardaway, Grayson Allen, Sam Merrill, Moses Moody, and Norman Powell.
Suffice it to say, the Knicks didn’t just make the right decision keeping Shamet. They made what should have been considered the only decision—and it’s paying off in a huge way.