After a season filled with drama and frustration with the Boston Celtics, Terry Rozier headed into the summer of 2019 with the goal of finding a team that could give him a starting role and a decent contract. Rozier succeeded to achieve both goals after the Boston Celtics agreed to send him to the Charlotte Hornets in a sign-and-trade deal involving Kemba Walker. Aside from being tasked to fill the void left by Walker, Rozier also got a three-year, $56.7 million deal from the Hornets.
While most people agree that Terry Rozier deserves a huge payday, there are some who think the opposite, including ESPN insiders Tim Bontemps and Dave McMenamin. Bontemps and McMenamin both believe that the Hornets’ signing of Rozier is the “most questionable offseason move” this summer. Bontemps thinks that the Hornets gave away too much money to bring Rozier to Charlotte, saying they should have only offered him the same contract young guards like Tomas Satoransky, Delon Wright, and Tyus Jones received in the 2019 NBA free agency.
In an interview with Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe , Aaron Turner, Terry Rozier’s agent, came to defend the new Hornets’ starting point guard, saying that he also deserves to be paid like other elite point guards in the league. Turner believes that Rozier is still a bargain for the Hornets and added that he’s “not far behind” six-time NBA All-Star and Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving.
“Luckily, people respected what he did enough last year when he was a starter to put some faith in him,” Turner said, as quoted by NESN . “People say, ‘Oh, Terry only shot this percentage.’ The Hornets are bringing him in to start. Look at his numbers as a starter. He’s right there with the elite, the [Mike] Conleys, the [Kyle] Lowrys. He’s not far behind Kyrie. He’s elite as a starter, and that’s what they’re bringing him in to do.”
OFFICIAL: Charlotte Hornets Acquire Terry Rozier from Boston Celtics in sign-and-trade deal for Kemba Walker.
?: https://t.co/xp7HmExHGW #BuzzCity pic.twitter.com/OyDiuYaWPg
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) July 7, 2019
Terry Rozier has undeniably shown lots of superstar potential since being drafted as the No. 16 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, but it’s too early to put him on the same level as Kyrie Irving, Mike Conley, and Kyle Lowry. While all those three point guards have proven track records, Rozier still has plenty to improve with his game to be considered as an elite point guard in the NBA.
However, Aaron Turner is very confident that Terry Rozier is capable of accomplishing something big in Charlotte. Turner strongly believes that in his first season as a full-time starter, Rozier will exceed the performance he showed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs 2018.
“I think he’s going to flourish,” Turner said. “I think he’s going to be Terry from the playoffs and more.”
