The Charlotte Hornets, after two straight seasons of making the play-in tournament, appeared to be a franchise on the up and up, especially after winning 43 games last season. With LaMelo Ball's continued development as a bonafide All-Star caliber player, and other solid pieces in place such as Terry Rozier, PJ Washington, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Gordon Hayward, there was little reason to expect a steep drop-off for the Hornets, even with last season's leading scorer Miles Bridges unavailable after his involvement in controversy.
However, LaMelo Ball's preseason injury cast too huge a cloud on the Hornets season that Charlotte just has not been able to recover from. To make matters worse, Gordon Hayward and Kelly Oubre Jr. have had their bouts with injuries, depleting the Hornets even further. Thus, it hasn't really been too big of a surprise that the Hornets have scuffled to an 11-34 record, the second-worst mark in the league.
Accordingly, the Hornets now appear willing to dangle some of their veterans to load up on even more draft assets alongside what should be a very good draft pick in the Victor Wembanyama draft. One such veteran available for trade is Terry Rozier, who has developed into one of the most effective volume three-point shooters in the league with Charlotte.
Rozier hasn't had the most effective 2022-23 campaign; he might be averaging a career-best 20.8 points per game, but it has come at the cost of his efficiency. Nevertheless, contending teams in need of a secondary ball-handler and a reliable floor spacer could view him Rozier an enticing option that could definitely be attainable in a trade given the Hornets' dreadful season.
Here are three teams that could benefit immensely from swinging a trade for Terry Rozier with the trade deadline fast approaching.
Dallas Mavericks
The Mavs, currently at 24-21, are the fifth seed in the Western Conference even after an uninspiring start to the season, thanks to the dominance of Luka Doncic. Alas, the Mavs suffer from the typical “superstar” syndrome; they suffer too precipitous a drop-off everytime Doncic is not on the floor.
The Mavs are 10.19 points better per 100 possessions when Doncic is on the floor, according to PBP Stats. Simply put, the Mavs die down everytime Doncic is not around. And for a team that relies too much on their superstar, this is not a surprising sight to see at all. Thus, it may serve the Mavs best if they were to acquire yet another guard that could shoulder a heavy offensive burden, an area the Mavs could stand to improve following the departure of Jalen Brunson for the New York Knicks.
Adding Terry Rozier could then move Spencer Dinwiddie back to the bench, a role he thrived in during the Mavs' 2022 playoff run. Rozier would then have carte blanche in the Mavs offense alongside Doncic. The 6'1 guard shot 38.9 percent on 5.5 catch-and-shoot three-point attempts last season (for reference, he's only taking 3.8 such attempts this year), and one would assume that he could get back to that level given the defensive attention Doncic draws.
In a potential trade, either Tim Hardaway Jr. or two of Davis Bertans, Reggie Bullock, and Dwight Powell would have to make way, in addition to whatever draft capital the Hornets demand for the guard locked up to a long-term contract that runs until the end of the 2025-26 season.
It remains to be seen which route the Mavs take, but they could do a whole lot worse than Scary Terry.
Phoenix Suns
The Suns have realized firsthand just how much difference a year makes. After last season's dominant regular season effort, the Suns have now fallen all the way to 12th in the Western Conference standings with a 21-24 record following their bouts with injury woes. Including Devin Booker's early Christmas game exit, the Suns have gone 2-10 in his absence, which was only made worse by Chris Paul's injury.
Thus, the Suns truly have to do something to avoid falling even further in the Western Conference standings. They have already registered interest in another Hornets player in Jalen McDaniels, so why not expand those talks to include Terry Rozier?
According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports, the Suns are looking for point guard help as well, perhaps even someone who could take the starting point guard mantle from Chris Paul eventually. Rozier is not a pure point guard, but at the very least, he could complement CP3 well as someone who functions best as an off-ball threat. And amid the injury to Devin Booker, the Suns are in dire need of someone who could score the rock.
It makes too much sense on paper for the Suns to pursue Rozier; the only question now is just how much money could the Suns stomach acquiring in a trade.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers have been hunting for upgrades since the start of the season. They have already expressed interest in Terry Rozier at the start of the season, and amid the Hornets' terrible season, they may soon revisit those talks. The Lakers rank dead last in threes made per game this season, and for a LeBron James-led team, that is simply unacceptable. Rozier will help in that regard; the only thing to watch out for now is the Lakers' amenability to trading away their precious few draft assets.
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