Atlanta Completes Trade With Houston; Acquires Bruno Fernando and Garrison Mathews in Exchange for Justin Holiday, Frank Kaminsky, and Future Draft Considerations
The Atlanta Hawks acquired center Bruno Fernando and guard Garrison Mathews from the Houston Rockets, in exchange for Justin Holiday, Frank Kaminsky and 2024 and 2025 second round draft picks (Oklahoma City’s own).
Fernando has appeared in 31 games (four starts) with the Rockets this season, tallying 4.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.0 block in 11.7 minutes (.516 FG%, .682 FT%). The center from Luanda, Angola has rejected two-or-more shots in eight games this season, including two four-block outings.
Selected 34th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2019 NBA Draft, Fernando’s rights were traded to Atlanta on July 6, 2019. Over the course of his four-year career, Fernando has suited up for Atlanta (2019-21), Boston (2021-22) and Houston (2021-23). He owns career averages of 3.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 150 games (17 starts). Fernando was the first native of Angola ever drafted into the NBA.
Fernando played two years at Maryland (2017-19), seeing action in 64 games (53 starts), recording 12.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.6 blocks in 26.4 minutes of play (.595 FG%, .763 FT%). He left Maryland ranked second all-time in field goal percentage (.595 FG%), tied eighth in career blocked shots per game (1.6), tied ninth in career double-doubles (25) and 10th in rebounds per game (8.7).
Mathews, a career .366% three-point shooter, has appeared in 45 games for Houston this season, averaging 4.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in 13.4 minutes. During the 2021-22 campaign, the 6-5 guard averaged career bests of 10.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 assist, seeing action in a career-high 65 games, while making a career-high 33 starts.
Undrafted in 2019, Mathews signed a two-way contract with the Washington Wizards on July 3, 2019 and re-signed as a two-way player with Washington on Nov. 21, 2020. He signed a training camp contract with Boston in September 2021 and was claimed off waivers by the Rockets on Oct. 18, 2021 and signed to a two-way contract, which was converted to a standard NBA contract on Dec. 18, 2021.
In his four NBA seasons, Mathews has appeared in 192 games (57 starts), notching 6.9 points and 1.9 rebounds in 18.6 minutes of play. He also saw action in three postseason games with the Wizards during the 2021 NBA Playoffs.
The Franklin, Tenn., native spent four seasons at Lipscomb (2015-19) and finished as the school’s all-time leading scorer in the Division I era with 2,478 points.
Holiday was acquired by Atlanta on July 6, 2022, via a trade with the Sacramento Kings. He has appeared in 28 games for the Hawks this season, averaging 4.5 points in 14.7 minutes of action. Kaminsky signed with the club as a free agent on July 12, 2022. In 26 games played this season, Kaminsky is averaging 2.7 points and 1.4 rebounds in 6.8 minutes.
