Lakers News: Terry Rozier Was Almost A Laker This Summer?
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Your Los Angeles Lakers have a bit of a logjam at the point guard position. So much so that L.A. is considering re-categorizing some of them as shooting guards. But apparently the club was considering making a move to add a combo guard who is, at present, way better than any of the guards currently on the roster.
Sources inform Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic that, prior to All-Star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell landing in Cleveland, L.A. was in talks to make a four-team exchange with the Utah Jazz, Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks. Buha and Amick report that Jazz power forward Bojan Bogdanovic and Hornets guard Terry Rozier would have been rerouted to L.A. in an early framework of the trade. Presumably Westbrook's contract and the Lakers' much-sought after future first-round draft picks would be the big Lakers pieces being sent out.
We've heard the chatter about a deal for Bogdanovic before. It seems like a fading possibility that a Lakers-Jazz deal could sending Westbrook and the picks to Utah and Bogdanovic plus some other vets to L.A. is going to happen before training camp kicks off in a few weeks. The Rozier addition, however, is new.
The 6'1" guard out of Louisville spent his first four intriguing-but-frustrating years with the Lakers' sworn enemy, the Boston Celtics, before joining Charlotte during the 2019 offseason. His output erupted. Rozier started off with Charlotte at his Celtics position of point guard. After Charlotte selected LaMelo Ball with the third pick in the 2020 draft, Rozier shifted over to the two spot.
His offensive production was barely affected with the positional change. Across 73 games last year, Rozier averaged 19.3 points, 4.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.3 steals. He posted a slash line of .444/.374/.852. At 28, he's about as good as he's going to be, which is pretty darn good. Like Bogdanovic, he could have further helped spread the floor for L.A.
Rozier would have been a stellar addition for the club. He would have represented a massive upgrade over any of the Lakers' other current point guards at this stage in everyone's respective careers. Ah well.
L.A. may have just wanted to preserve its cap space for the summer of 2023 without taking long-term money back in a deal. Rozier is signed to a pretty reasonable four-year, $95.3 million contract with the Hornets through the 2025-26 season, though the final year is non-guaranteed.
