Veteran Has Buried the Most Three-Pointers by an Undrafted Player in NBA History
ATLANTA – The Atlanta Hawks have signed guard Wesley Matthews, the team announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Matthews has appeared in 950 games (754 starts) throughout his 14-year career, suiting up for the Utah Jazz (2009-10), Portland Trail Blazers (2010-15), Dallas Mavericks (2015-19), New York Knicks (2018-19), Indiana Pacers (2018-19), Los Angeles Lakers (2020-21), and Milwaukee Bucks (2019-20, 2021-23). His 950 games played are the fourth-most in NBA history by an undrafted player, trailing only Moses Malone (1,329), Ben Wallace (1,088), and Avery Johnson (1,054).
The 6-4 guard owns career averages of 11.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 29.6 minutes of play (.420 FG%, .376 3FG%, .824 FT%). Matthews has connected on 1,821 three-pointers throughout his NBA career, the most triples by an undrafted player in NBA history and the 10th-most three-pointers amongst all active players.
Matthews’ father, Wes Matthews Sr., appeared in 152 games for Atlanta across five stints with the Hawks (1980-83, 1984, 1990). They become the first father/son duo to both suit up for the Hawks.
Matthews recently saw action in 52 games with the Bucks during the 2022-23 campaign, averaging 3.4 points and 2.2 rebounds in 15.7 minutes of action. He scored his 11,000th career point in a 150-130 win over the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 23, 2023. Matthews, who’s poured in 11,100 total points in his career, has the third-most points by an undrafted player in league history (Moses Malone: 27,409, David Wesley: 11,842).
The San Antonio, Texas native, who owns a career .376% clip from three-point territory, was selected to participate in the three-point contest at NBA All-Star Weekend 2015 and 2017. In his sophomore season, Matthews earned a spot in the 2011 Rising Stars Challenge.
Matthews has appeared in the NBA Playoffs in nine of his 14 seasons, including in each of the past five campaigns (since 2019). He has seen action in 66 postseason games (59 starts), tallying 9.9 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.0 steals in 30.8 minutes of play (.391 FG%, .352 3FG%, .808 FT%).
The Marquette product enjoyed a four-year collegiate career, suiting up for the Golden Eagles from 2005-09, leading the team to the NCAA Tournament in each of his four seasons. He currently ranks second in program history in free throws made (549), tied sixth in games played (127) and 10th in scoring (1,673).