The Charlotte Hornets have found their replacement for All-Star guard Kemba Walker. According to The Atheltic’s Shams Charania, the Hornets will sign Terry Rozier on a three-year, $58 million deal.
Free agent guard Terry Rozier plans to agree to a three-year, $58M contract with the Charlotte Hornets via sign-and-trade, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2019
Rozier averaged only nine points and 2.9 assists per game last season for the Celtics in a reserve role. Rozier was one of the breakout Celtics in the previous season during a deep playoff run to the Eastern Conference finals. Nicknamed Scary Terry, Rozier was one of the key players to help push the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games.
In order to make the deal work, the Hornets and Celtics will need to agree on a sign and trade to make that happen. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, The Celtics, Nets and Hornets are exploring the possibility of a three-team sign and trade.
Sources: Boston's showing interest in a 3-team sign-and-trade w/ Kyrie Irving (Nets), Kemba Walker (Celtics) and Terry Rozier (Hornets). Boston wants to create a full MLE and would likely need to surrender at least a first-round pick to Nets. So far, talks are exploratory.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2019
Losing a player like Walker will most likely bottom out the Hornets from fringe playoff team to potentially high in the lottery order. While Rozier had a great playoff run in the absence of Kyrie Irving a couple of seasons ago, there has to be a real question if he is worth the salary the Hornets are going to give him.