Charlotte Hornets: Terry Rozier and his quietly good season
By Aaron Khor
This 2019-20 NBA season for the Charlotte Hornets, there has been a lot of noise about the incredible play of Devonte’ Graham. Devonte’ has truly come out of nowhere, but this season wasn’t supposed to be about Devonte’. This season was supposed to be about Terry Rozier.
Terry Rozier was paid a staggering $58 million over 3 years to come in as Kemba Walker’s replacement for the Charlotte Hornets. Many believed (rightly or wrongly) Terry’s résumé shouldn’t have commanded such money. Regardless, the Hornet’s front office believed Rozier was worth the money.
Nobody really knew what to expect from Terry Rozier coming to Charlotte. He had never seen consistent extended minutes during the regular season, but we can all remember his stellar postseason run with the Boston Celtics where he started in place of injured Kyrie Irving. It was at this time he earned the nickname “Scary Terry”.
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Maybe he was going to have a fantastic season. Maybe he was going to develop into nothing more than a role player.
Fast-forward to the beginning of the NBA season and Terry Rozier started the season off relatively slowly. Certainly slowly in comparison to Devonte’ Graham.
But over the last 9 games for the Charlotte Hornets, Terry Rozier has put up some nice numbers. He’s averaging 23.3 points, 4.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per games (over the last 8 games). He’s also doing this at 46.6% shooting overall and 39.4% from 3. All while sharing ball-handling duties with Devonte’ Graham.
On the overall season, Terry Rozier is averaging 18 points, 4.4 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game.
What is evident upon watching the games is that the way the Charlotte Hornets play is slowing down for Terry. He is turning the ball over less and his shooting percentages are heading in the right direction.
Terry Rozier is playing the right way at the moment and it is reflecting in his stat line. Terry is still only 25 years old and those doubting his ability are slowly beginning to turn into believers. If he can keep up his current level of play, the partial rebuild the Hornets initiated could be accelerated significantly.
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While the spotlight is on Devonte’ Graham and he is the player on top of the opposing teams’ scouting report, Terry Rozier is quietly having a good season.