Charlotte Hornets: 4 reasons why Kemba Walker leaving worked out great
By Jason Huber
The Hornets acquired Terry Rozier in a sign-and-trade deal with the Boston Celtics when Kemba Walker departed Charlotte.
Many fans were upset that instead of letting Walker make his own decision in free agency, that the Hornets didn’t decide to trade him at the trade deadline to at least try and gain some assets for the all-star guard.
So, it came as a little bit of a surprise when Charlotte, at least, gained point guard Terry Rozier in a sign-and-trade with Boston in a one-for-one swap.
The frustration came when the Hornets signed Rozier to a three-year, $56 million deal because at the time, Rozier had never been a full-time starting point guard and it felt like another classic Charlotte move of overpaying for an unproven player.
However, Rozier has completely outperformed his contract two years into the deal and has not only become one of the go-to guys on this Hornets team but has also been a leader in the locker room.
Charlotte general manager Mitch Kupchak could’ve embraced the rebuild by just letting Walker walk but he saw potential in Rozier and it’s paid off.
Rozier has averaged 19.2 points, 4.1 assists and 4.4 rebounds in 132 games played with the Hornets while shooting a career-high 45 percent from the field in 2020-21.
He’s embraced switching roles from the primary facilitator to shooting guard with Devonte’ Graham and LaMelo Ball playing point guard and has stayed relatively healthy.
Had Kupchak not decided to pull the trigger on acquiring Rozier when Walker left, the Hornets rebuild might be in a different place right now.