1. Wesley Matthews, Milwaukee Bucks
Wes Matthews has become somewhat of a journeyman around the NBA after a Topsy-turvy 2018-19 NBA season.
Matthews played the first 44 games of the 2018-19 season with the Mavericks before being traded to the Knicks in January this year. That experiment barely lasted a week before Matthews was waived by the Knicks, ending up with the Indiana Pacers just a few days later.
Over the offseason, however, Matthews would again move on after signing as a free agent with the Bucks. This would be the 6th team Matthews had been a part of during his 11 years in the NBA.
Matthews has slotted straight into the shooting guard position for the Bucks, featuring in their starting lineup through all of Milwaukee’s 14 games so far.
So far, the move has not been successful.
Milwaukee was exposed in the East Conference Finals last season by Toronto, clamping down on superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and exposing their lack of consistent and reliable shooters around the ‘Greek Freak.’ Losing Malcolm Brogdon to the Indiana Pacers meant the loss of arguably the Bucks’ next consistent shooter alongside Khris Middleton, leaving some noticeable holes on the offensive end.
Matthews’ opportunity in the Milwaukee starting lineup was enhanced even further after the Bucks learned their No. 2 man, Khris Middleton, would miss several weeks with a left thigh contusion. The Bucks needed their other starters, including Matthews, to help pick-up the offensive load.
Matthews has failed to make the most of his opportunity.
Through 14 games, Matthews has been held scoreless on three separate occasions and only added a single bucket in three other games. Only in five out of the Bucks’ first 14 games has Matthews managed to reach double digits in his individual scoring column, a dramatic decrease for a player that has averaged over 10 points per game in every season since his rookie year in Utah.
Matthews is currently averaging just 6.7 points per game to start the 2019-20 season, even less than his 12.2 points per game average across three different teams during the 2018-19 season.
Matthews almost seems reluctant to shoot, taking a career-low average of six shot attempts per game. He is converting on only 41 percent of all field goal attempts (3rd lowest on the Bucks roster) and 33.3 percent of his 3-point attempts this year, averaging fewer points per game than both George Hill and Kyle Korver coming off the bench for Milwaukee.
Matthews has also failed to make any great contributions in other facets of his game. His average of slightly over one assist per game is a career-low for the guard whilst only managing an average of 2.2 rebounds each game. His Player Efficiency Rating (PER) is just 7.8, the 3rd lowest of any Milwaukee player in the 2019-20 season.
The Bucks have found other ways to cope without Middleton, maintaining a five-game win streak whilst still managing to be the 2nd highest-scoring team in the NBA, averaging 118.5 points-per-game. But Matthews’s addition has proven to be less than fruitful for the Bucks lineup, failing to contribute any real help for the Milwaukee squad in any major statistical category.
To avoid being shipped off to a 7th NBA team, Matthews will need to start proving his true worth for the Milwaukee franchise and start to provide consistent help on both ends of the floor. This is especially important if Milwaukee wants to make an even deeper run into the playoffs in their quest to become champions of the Eastern Conference this season.