“Scary Terry” isn’t afraid of returning to a bench role now that Celtics teammate Kyrie Irving is healthy again, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPN. Terry Rozier became a postseason star in Boston with Irving sidelined after knee surgery, starting all 19 games and posting a 16.5/5.3/5.7 line as the Celtics reached Game 7 of the conference finals. Irving’s recovery will make Rozier a reserve again, but he won’t let that affect his outlook for the season.
“I’m not worried about [his role],” Rozier said today at his youth basketball camp. “Kinda control what I can control. We all got one goal, and that’s to win. We all get love when we win. That should be everybody’s mindset. It’s going to be a lot of fun. If you want to win a championship, that’s what it’s going to take — sacrifice. … We’re all going to have one goal, and it’s going to lead us to the promised land.”
Rozier’s attitude should help the Celtics, but it may not keep him in Boston beyond this season. He will be a restricted free agent next summer, and the organization may not want to make a large financial commitment to another guard with Irving also headed for free agency and Marcus Smart re-signing last month for $52MM over four years.
There’s more today from the Atlantic Division:
- Jayson Tatum, who is coming off a stellar rookie season, expressed similar sentiments in an interview with Nicole Yang of Boston.com. Tatum was also outstanding for the Celtics in the playoffs, averaging 18.5 points per game, but he’s expected to lose his starting role whenever Gordon Hayward is healthy enough to take over. “I understand how deep our team is,” Tatum said. “I just care about winning and doing what I can while I’m on the floor.”
- The Nets will probably focus on big men with their two open slots for training camp, according to an article on NetsDaily. Both players will likely wind up in the G League, and Brooklyn’s affiliate in Long Island is short on centers with an injury to Kamari Murphy, a starter last season, and the uncertain status of Prince Ibeh. The story mentions Luke Petrasek and Byron Mullens, who both attended the Nets’ free agent mini-camp this summer, as possibilities.
- The Sixers are looking for a GM who won’t demand the final say on personnel moves, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Appearing on a podcast with Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports, Pompey said the organization wants to keep the group dynamic in the front office that it’s had since getting rid of Bryan Colangelo in June.
Celts have players with great character and chemistry, a great coach, and a great GM in a great city!
celt’s trust for one-another is off the charts, their ball movements going to be next level awesome
I’d be shocked if Rozier said anything else. He shot 0-10 in game 7, which to me shows his ceiling is a great rotation player. You have to be able to score when it counts the most to become more than that. That said, I’m still very happy with the player he’s become for now, but I’d love to see him grow.
Zero chance Tatum comes off the bench.
Agree with Connorsoxfan, when it really matters that’s when you need your superstars or match winners, good players & a good team will take you so far but at the end you need a superstar to win the important games.
Agree with ac106 as well, I cannot see JT coming from the bench this year. He was so good last year, I would keep him in the starting line up, Hayward can come from the bench, he is not as good & even once is back will take him a long time to get back to fitness & were it was. Once I read it takes a player at least half of the time he is out for the injury to get back to normal. So if he misses a year, it will take him 6 months playing to be at the level he was before. Anyhow I would keep JT as a starter, he is not only the future but the present too.
You have an obcession with this having to have a superstar because of LeBron. Pacer president has said as I’ve mentioned before has said he doesn’t want any superstars because they wreck team chemistry and when they leave, it sets the team back a while. He’s been doing this a while a little above your level. What he says is meaningful. Also not shown in this article Rozier said he’d hoped that LeBron would stay in the east because he wanted to be part of the team that stopped his streak. This Boston team would have beaten the Cavs with LeBron. It’s a good thing cesc isn’t doing Danny Ainge’s job. He’d wreck it. I’ll enjoy watching the Celts in next years draft with 4 1st rounders, and having won the eastern conference. Superstars (in my opinion All NBA players fit this) make $35MM a year. If all you want to do is be competitive like most NBA teams, you don’t need a superstar. Pritchard says Oladipo is the only star they have, and only one they want. I’ll start a petition to see if we can get the Celtics let cesc run the team.
When Tony Romo calls a game and predicts what he thinks they should be doing, I enjoy it. I hate sitting with an armchair quarterback who thinks he knows everything trying to call the game. Let the experts handle it.
Hope Mullens signs an Exhibit 10 contract with the Nets. He can be the next project to have his career revitalized like that of Dinwiddie and Harris. Oh wait: He will be!
I agree Keith. He had great numbers in the G league 20PPG 11RPG and shot 41% from 3 on 5 attempts a game. Would make a great two way with Theo Pinson or Mitch Creek.