Charlotte Hornets: 3 Offseason moves the Hornets might regret
By Billy Carson
3 Offseason moves the Hornets might regret: Extending Terry Rozier early
Again, this is not to say keeping Rozier on a new contract is a bad move, but the regret here might be the timing of the deal. Rozier will be making $17.9 million this season and if he plays like he did last year, he will outperform his salary for a second straight season and warrant a contract extension, which we already gave for four additional years and ninety-seven million dollars. The reason why this extension may come back to bite the Hornets is for a couple of different cap reasons.
The first is that veteran extensions do not have the same restrictions as rookie extensions. So, while both Rozier and Bridges are up for extensions this year, the dates they must sign them by are different, with Bridges’ date being in October while Rozier having until June to agree on an extension.
Therefore, there isn’t much of a reason to rush out and extend a veteran to a non-max deal unless you are getting concessions, like non-guaranteed money, which Charlotte did not do. The one other reason would be that you want your captain to know he is the long-term leader of the team, so he feels more invested, instead of trying out for you and twenty-nine other teams.
The second reason is that the Hornets were not competing with anyone for Rozier. While there are teams out there with cap space, very few would be interested in Rozier, especially at four years and a $100 million, unless of course, he becomes an all-star this season, in which case, his contract becomes cheap.
However, one issue with this line of thinking is that you are betting that a $100 million contract becomes a value deal that you don’t anticipate his play dips back to pre-COVID days. There is a chance that Rozier plays well enough that his contract is justified but there is also a chance his play makes moving him impossible a la Nic Batum.
I guess, what I am saying, is that if you are ok with giving a player $25 million per season in the preseason assuming he will be an all-star caliber player, you would be just as comfortable giving him $30 million per season in the offseason once he has become an all-star.