It looks like the Rockets have had another long and consistently losing season, but compared to last season, the Rockets management has seen the dawn of rebuilding success. In addition to the top 4 rookies led by Jaylen Green, young players such as Porter Jr., Martin Jr., and Tate have also made some progress this season. Don't forget that the Rockets still have 2 first-round picks in this offseason, one of which may be a first-round pick, even if it is not a pick, it will be a first-round pick with the bottom 5 picks, which is quite valuable.
In addition to this signing, the Rockets also have a "Nets pick" - a 17-pick pick in the first round, from the Nets. Therefore, the current lineup, coupled with the two rookies who joined in the near future, at least from the perspective of lineup building, the Rockets have been successful for a long time. The core players are in place, and the Rockets have also cultivated many high-quality role players in the regular season this season, including newcomers such as Martin Jr., Tate, Christopher, and "windfalls" such as Matthews.
Why is Matthews a "windfall" for the Rockets? Take a look at Matthews' series of experiences from last offseason to the present. The Rockets spotted Matthews among the many nameless free agents last summer, and Matthews was just a bench shooter for the Wizards last season, and if you don't often watch NBA fans, you probably don't know the young shooter.
Because the Wizards did not want to renew Matthews, Matthews could only join the Rockets as a free agent, and the Rockets were not very optimistic about Matthews at that time, directly gave him a two-way contract, and at the beginning of the season, the Rockets directly sent Matthews to the Vipers to train.
But then Matthews did well with the Vipers, just in time for the Rockets to miss the No. 2 spot, and Silas directly transferred Matthews to the Rockets' first team. Matthews, who came to the Rockets, was directly involved in 6 of the Rockets' 7 winning streaks after 15 consecutive losses.
In these 7 games, Matthews is like a god, look at his data at that time, Matthews can average 16.1 points per game in 7 games, and the three-point shooting rate is as high as nearly 45%. Even if his form has since declined, Matthews has averaged 10+ points per game this season, and his three-point shooting rate has reached a level of 36%.
It was because of the courage of Matthews that the Rockets turned his two-way contract into a 4-year, 8.2 million contract! NBA expert Lindbergh also posted about Matthews' performance this season, saying that Matthews is a good fit for the Rockets. It's important that Houston get players like Matthews early in the rebuild.
Cheap, easy-to-use ready-to-play players are rockets' favorites, and if the timeline is different, players like Matthews can make the Rockets get something "valuable" in some trades.
In other words, although the 25-year-old Matthews is not very old, but compared with the core players such as Porter Jr., Green, And Jing, the age does not seem to be particularly consistent, the Rockets can choose to leave Matthews "for their own use" in the future reconstruction, but if he really does not match those young cores, it is no problem, like Matthews, a good and inexpensive and very energetic 3D outside player, the Rockets can completely trade it out, in exchange for some chips that are conducive to reconstruction, such as younger players, such as draft picks and the like.
Of course, at that time, the Rockets still have to depend on the situation, if the Rockets rebuild beyond expectations, Matthews is likely to continue to stay in the team, as an important shooter on the bench; in case the Rockets rebuild still need a long time, then Matthews will be almost 30 years old, then the Rockets are not willing to wait any longer, you can trade Matthews in exchange for future assets, these two sets of plans are reliable and reasonable choices.