Rockets trade Garrison Mathews, Bruno Fernando to Atlanta for second-round draft picks

On the same day they traded veteran guard Eric Gordon to the Los Angeles Clippers for draft capital, the Houston Rockets also traded a pair of sparingly used reserves to Atlanta for draft capital.

In a trade made by the Hawks for financial reasons, the Hawks are sending veteran wing Justin Holiday and big man Frank Kaminsky to the Rockets for Garrison Mathews and Bruno Fernando.

Neither Holiday nor Kaminsky has a contract for the 2023-24 season, so the move does not impact Houston’s salary cap room this offseason. However, their combined 2022-23 salary is larger than Mathews and Fernando, which was the incentive for Atlanta to do the deal.

In exchange for taking on the larger salaries and helping reduce Atlanta’s luxury-tax figure, the Rockets are receiving Oklahoma City’s second-round draft picks in 2024 and 2025. Both were owned by Atlanta due to a previous trade involving the Hawks and Thunder.

Per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, the minutes that had previously gone to Fernando and Mathews are now likely to go to second-year prospects Usman Garuba and Josh Christopher. Neither player acquired from the Hawks appears likely to have a large role.

Here’s a look at immediate reaction to the deal.