Swarm and Sting
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Charlotte Hornets Midseason Grades: Terry Rozier is scarier than ever

By Josh Flenniken

PORTLAND, OREGON - MARCH 01: Terry Rozier #3 of the Charlotte Hornets works towards the basket against Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers in the first quarter at Moda Center on March 01, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OREGON - MARCH 01: Terry Rozier #3 of the Charlotte Hornets works towards the basket against Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers in the first quarter at Moda Center on March 01, 2021 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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Try finding an article written about Terry Rozier since he arrived with the Charlotte Hornets that doesn’t mention the word “contract.” There aren’t many (I know I’ve been guilty). Google’s first suggestion when you type out “Terry Rozier” is “Terry Rozier contract.” It has defined his narrative since he arrived in Charlotte.

Now, let’s play a little game—can you name the top 10 players in the NBA by effective field goal percentage averaging at least 15 shots a game? Pretend you hear Jeopardy music and join me in the next paragraph when you’re done.

I’m sure you got them all exactly right, but here they are in order (just to be sure):

  1. Zion Williamson (61.9%)
  2. Christian Wood (61.8%)
  3. Zach LaVine (61.5%)
  4. Nikola Jokic (60.9%)
  5. Paul George (60.4%)
  6. Terry Rozier (60.1%)
  7. Stephen Curry (59.5%)
  8. C.J. McCollum (59.4%)
  9. Kevin Durant (59.2%)
  10. Giannis Antetokounmpo (58.6%)

Alright, the subject of this article probably gave away the surprise. But you would have been pretty shocked if you’d stumbled across this on Twitter, right? Three of these guys haven’t played a game in a month or more. Christian Wood is the only player on this list making less money than Terry.

All of those brutal online threads roasting Hornets chairman Michael Jordan and management have aged rather poorly, but those worries weren’t at all unfounded at the time.

A few stand-out playoff performances aside, the Hornets were putting down $56.7 million over three years for a player who had averaged 7.2 ppg/3.5 reb/2.1 ast in 18.9 minutes/game on an ugly 37.7% from the field. Now he’s averaging 21.1 points a game on top-10 shooting efficiency.

Preseason Expectations

During the preseason games, I wrote that there was no reason we couldn’t expect a modest improvement from Rozier entering his sixth NBA season. After major bumps in virtually every statistical category in his leap to a starting role, he seemed on an upward trend. He even developed into one of the league’s premier catch-and-shoot threats, ranking below only Seth Curry, JJ Redick, CJ McCollum, and Duncan Robinson in 3 point percentage (45.9%) on at least 3 such attempts a game.

My expectations for Rozier were to continue his elite shooting off the catch, round out his scoring package a bit, and play better team defense. So how did he do?

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