A video posted to Terry Rozier’s Instagram account on Saturday sparked some trade rumors.
Rozier posted a video on his Instagram Story that showed him talking about someone leaving town. Rozier is narrating the video and his hand is shown holding a suitcase.
“Sometimes you get shipped,” Rozier says in the video.
Rozier very easily could have been talking about the person who was leaving, not himself being traded. But the video led some to ask what was happening.
Rozier was traded last year to Charlotte as part of a sign-and-trade that brought Kemba Walker to Boston. The Hornets’ signing of Gordon Hayward on Saturday has added some financial pressure to the team. They are planning to waive Nic Batum via the stretch provision to create money for Hayward. But they still owe Rozier $18.9 million next season and Cody Zeller $15.4 million. They made LaMelo Ball the No. 3 overall pick as well, creating some questions about a fit with Rozier, another point guard.
But Rozier did welcome Hayward to the Hornets, which was a positive sign.
On the other side, Rozier seemed to show some interest in a possible trade to the Clippers.
Terry Rozier sounds like one player who may be ready for his season to be over already.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Monday that the NBA is moving towards a vote to resume the season in Orlando with the 16 playoff teams plus six additional fringe teams for a total of 22.
Upon hearing that his Charlotte Hornets were not included in that group, Rozier had a hilarious reaction. He tweeted “say less” along with a pair of palm tree emojis to indicate going on vacation.
For what it’s worth, the Hornets were 23-42 when play was suspended. While such a record is obviously well below par, they were actually only 1.5 games behind the Washington Wizards, who were part of the 22-team proposal.
As for Rozier, who just signed with Charlotte last summer, he was their second-leading scorer this year at 18.0 points per game. Rozier is known for his lack of filter however, and it is pretty obvious where he stands in terms of having to play again this season.
It’s safe to say that Charlotte Hornets will be taking their newest free agent signing out for a spin right away.
Speaking with the media Tuesday, Hornets coach James Borrego said that he expects to play guard Terry Rozier roughly 34 minutes per game next season, per Rod Boone of The Athletic.
The 25-year-old Rozier, who signed a four-year, $58 million deal this summer with Charlotte, was a reserve during his four previous seasons with the Boston Celtics, leading to an average of less than 20 minutes per game for his career. The Hornets will need him to assume a large workload right away though after the departure of leading scorer and starting point guard Kemba Walker, who incidentally is now with the Celtics.
While it is fair to wonder how Rozier will respond to such a massive increase in his minutes, Borrego’s assertion is far from the strangest thing that the team has said about the former Louisville star in recent months.
Charlotte Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak isn’t doing much to ease concerns about the big payday that he just gave to Terry Rozier.
Addressing reporters Saturday after the Hornets completed their free agent acquisition of Rozier, Kupchak made a rather bizarre comment about his new point guard, saying that he would have been a lottery pick in this year’s draft.
The problem here is that Rozier is a 25-year-old about to enter his fifth NBA season. With the team committing three years and $58 million to him to boot, Kupchak was promptly roasted on Twitter for the strange remark.
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Terry Rozier is reportedly heading to the Charlotte Hornets on a three-year deal.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Rozier has agreed to sign a $58 million deal once free agency opens, and will be part of a sign-and-trade deal with the Boston Celtics.
It’s unclear if this sign-and-trade deal will include the Brooklyn Nets, which is a scenario that the Celtics were reportedly interested in. According to Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports, the primary point is to open up space to retain Al Horford while keeping their MLE.
Rozier was leaving Boston as soon as Kemba Walker agreed to join the team. He has primarily been a reserve during his four years with the Celtics, but figures to play a bigger role on a Hornets team that will be rebuilding after Walker’s exit.
The Boston Celtics know they’ll be losing Kyrie Irving and getting Kemba Walker, but they’re reportedly interested in some extra maneuvering to help themselves in the free agent market.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Celtics are interested in a sign-and-trade that would send Irving to the Brooklyn Nets and Terry Rozier to the Charlotte Hornets. This would allow the Celtics to create a full mid-level exception to bring in another supporting free agent.
This is why the Celtics have not yet renounced the rights to Rozier, a restricted free agent. Given that Rozier has interest elsewhere, he may not be happy about it, but with Boston still in control of his rights, there’s not a lot he can do. While not close, it’s a glimpse into the chatter going on behind the scenes to make all this roster shuffling work in an efficient way for everyone.
The machinations of NBA free agency continue, and Terry Rozier will be the latest to benefit.
According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, the Boston Celtics will renounce their rights to Rozier, making him an unrestricted free agent. This move is being made to allow the Celtics to bring in Kemba Walker on a max contract.
This is, by many accounts, what Rozier wanted. He has sought a bigger role and made no secret of the fact that he may have to leave Boston in order to get it. There appears to be some mutual interest with the New York Knicks, who would certainly be in position to give Rozier the role he wants.
Terry Rozier may not really want to be a Boston Celtic, but he’s going to remain one, at least for the moment.
According to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, the Celtics are likely to extend Rozier a qualifying offer to ensure that he remains under their control while they pursue bigger free agents. If they are able to land the likes of Kemba Walker, they’d likely renounce Rozier’s rights and allow him to become a free agent.
Rozier has made noise about leaving the Celtics, and he has interest from elsewhere in the league. As a restricted free agent, there’s nothing he can really do aside from hope that Boston finds an impact free agent, which would force the team to let him walk.
The New York Knicks are looking at the biggest free agents on the market, but there are other names that they may be willing to invest in.
According to Ian Begley of SNY, the Knicks are interested in restricted free agent Terry Rozier if the Boston Celtics rescind his rights.
The Celtics value Rozier, and can match any offer sheets, but his future is unclear with Boston facing a potentially difficult offseason. It’s also fair to say that the guard would prefer a change of scenery given some of his comments after the season ended.
Rozier, still only 25, averaged nine points per game in primarily a reserve role for Boston last season. He may be seeking out a more prominent role on a roster, and the Knicks would certainly be able to offer that as currently constructed.
Terry Rozier has not done a whole lot to hide the fact that he was unhappy with the Boston Celtics this past season, and he is not afraid to attach his name to criticism of Kyrie Irving and the team’s coaching staff.
During an appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up!” Tuesday morning, Rozier spoke about the challenges that come with playing alongside Irving.
“You just have to adjust to his style. Whatever Kyrie wants done, he’s gonna show it,” Rozier said. “That’s what he wants done and you have to adjust to his style of play.”
Rozier admitted he felt the Celtics were doing a better job of adjusting to Irving’s style toward the end of the year, but he hinted that the All-Star point guard had a tendency to ignore the game plan and do what he pleased.
“We’d come in the game and it would be a different game plan than what we expected and went through in practice,” he said. “It was different.”
It’s hard to tell if Rozier’s issue was with Irving, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens, or both. While he said Irving had a tendency to run the offense the way he wanted to, he also added that the coaches would leave Kyrie on the floor in situations where they had previously prepared for him to be off of it. That’s probably Rozier’s way of saying there were times he felt he should have gotten playing time over Irving.
Rozier was one of the players who enjoyed a huge postseason last year when Irving was injured, so you can understand why he may have been unhappy with his role this year. He’s set to become a restricted free agent this summer and has already hinted that he might not want to return to Boston, though that could change if Irving leaves.
