Milwaukee Bucks: Get to know wing Wesley Matthews
By Adam McGee
NBA Career
In spite of a stellar senior season, Matthews had to wait through all 60 picks of the 2009 NBA Draft without hearing his name called by David Stern or Adam Silver.
Instead, the undrafted Matthews’ first NBA chance came by way of a one-year deal with Jerry Sloan‘s Utah Jazz. With hindsight, that opportunity may have worked out even better for Matthews than if he had been drafted.
Utah offered a perfect landing spot for Matthews, putting him straight into a highly competitive situation on one of the best teams in the NBA. In his rookie season, Matthews played all 82 games for the Jazz, averaging just under 25 minutes per game, and weighing in with 9.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists a night.
The Jazz won 52 games, made it to the second round of the playoffs, and by the time the postseason arrived, Matthews had taken up a starter’s role. Averaging over 37 minutes per game in the playoffs as a rookie, the anguish of being undrafted 12 months earlier was very much behind him.
Matthews hit free agency that summer, but left his mark on the legendary Sloan, who remarked, “I wish I had 12 Wes Matthewses.” Up next, was a stay with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Matthews spent his next five seasons playing with the Trail Blazers, where he was the picture of consistency and durability. Carrying over from playing every game in his rookie season with the Jazz, Matthews played in every game of his first two years with Portland, logging 250 consecutive games to start his career and earning his “Iron Man” nickname.
With the Blazers, Matthews was one of the few players to bridge two eras for the franchise. In his first season, Portland won 48 games in Brandon Roy‘s last campaign with the Blazers. Twenty-eight wins followed the next year in a lockout shortened season, but that was enough to land Damian Lillard in the 2012 NBA Draft.
The arrival of Lillard, and later C.J. McCollum, bolstered a team that already included LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum and Matthews, while Robin Lopez and Arron Afflalo arrived later to push the Blazers on to another level. Matthews’ final two years with the team resulted in over 50 wins, but it all came to an end in somewhat tragic fashion as he ruptured his achilles late in the 2014-15 season and ultimately ended up never playing for Portland again.
That injury wasn’t enough to deter the Dallas Mavericks from paying Matthews the lucrative, four-year deal that just came to an end last season. Returning from the most dreaded injury in the sport, Matthews impressively remained very solid with the Mavericks outside of a slight dip in his shooting efficiency.
Of course, the perception of a player changes when they end up with a larger contract, and as a result, Matthews didn’t necessarily receive the kind of plaudits he had earned during his time in Portland.
Just prior to the trade deadline last season, everything changed again for Matthews. Having been included in the Kristaps Porzingis trade, Matthews played just two games with the Knicks before being waived. From there, Matthews signed almost immediately with the Pacers, where he filled in for the injured Victor Oladipo over the remainder of the regular season and playoffs.
Landing with the Bucks, Matthews should now have the greatest chance of his career to contend for a championship, and there’s also the potential for him to take on major role in the rotation.