On Wednesday, one report indicated that Terry Rozier was unhappy with his playing time so far this season and another suggested that seven teams were monitoring him to see if the Celtics will start listening to trade inquiries. However, the C’s are downplaying the idea that Rozier is dissatisfied with his role or that he’ll be on the trade market this season.
Appearing on the radio show Toucher & Rich today, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said that Rozier hasn’t complained about his playing time at all to Ainge (link via Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston).
“I talk to Terry quite a bit and I haven’t heard any of those types of things. So I don’t know how reliable any of the sources or rumors are,” Ainge said, per Forsberg. “Terry knew going in this year what his situation, what his role was going to be, and he was as excited and enthusiastic as anybody on our team for the upcoming season. I know for sure that Terry would love to be playing more more minutes but there’s a lot of guys on the team that would love to be playing more minutes.”
Ainge said he believes Rozier would come to him or head coach Brad Stevens if he were upset at all, and that hasn’t happened so far. The C’s president added that no teams have called him about Rozier since the regular season started, and he doesn’t know anything about the seven clubs reportedly monitoring him.
Meanwhile, Jeff Goodman of Stadium tweets that he talked to Rozier about his role in Boston last week and the point guard showed “a ton of maturity.” According to Goodman, the 24-year-old said he’d obviously like to play more, but he knew coming into the season that minutes would be hard to come by in a loaded Celtics rotation, as Ainge indicated.
Finally, a league source tells Brian Robb of BostonSportsJournal.com that a Rozier trade before February’s deadline is “extremely unlikely.”
If Rozier is truly unhappy with his situation in Boston and wants to be dealt, it would hurt the team’s leverage in potential negotiations, so it’s no surprise that Ainge and the Celtics would be eager to dismiss the idea that anything is amiss. On the other hand, it also would make sense that the franchise genuinely wants to hang onto Rozier through the 2018/19 season, even if re-signing him as a restricted free agent in 2019 is far from a sure thing.
The Celtics, despite a modest 6-4 start, are still one of the deepest and most talented teams in the NBA, and making an in-season deal that includes a key rotation player like Rozier could impact the team’s chemistry and/or depth. Additionally, even though Kyrie Irving has verbally committed to re-signing with the club in 2019, that won’t be official until he puts pen to paper in July — trading his backup in February may be an unnecessary risk for the C’s, especially if no team is willing to offer a substantial package for Rozier.
This situation is definitely worth watching over the next couple months, but for now it seems more likely than not that Rozier remains a Celtic through the trade deadline.
He kind of a big headed bum lol….when your career shooting percent is close to .300 you need to realize you are lucky to have a team. Couple this with that he absolutely shrunk in playoffs last year and cost the c’s a chance for the chip with ill advised 3’s in crunch time it maybe time to fleece some one for a 1st rounder danny!
I agree that Danny will be able to obtain a first rounder for him if he decides to trade Terry. I disagree that he’s lucky to be on a team because he’s a much better player than when he was drafted. To take his career stats are tough given his increased level of performance. He’s not like LeBron in the sense that he always played at the same level since he came out of the womb.
Career FG % .377. Not good but not ‘close to .300’ either. And 16.5 pts and 5+ boards and assists per game in the playoffs is not exactly shrinking. I agree he forced some 3s but he played really well early in the playoffs. He’s great insurance against a Kyrie injury or a replacement down the stretch if the Celts want to rest Irving. Hold em Danny
He should. Celtics don’t exactly look like title contenders like everyone has been blowing them up to be. As a Cavs fan, that Kyrie injury you’re talking about should be here any day now. Kid’s made of glass and usually breaks down around middle December anyhow. Lmao. Rozier has a lot of potential. Can’t see why you trade the guy when you’re trying to make a run and your stat PG won’t sign an extension and has said he’s waiting for a new contract.
Like most things, it’s bored loser writers making a big deal out of nothing instead of paying attention to the effing game. Jesus.
Doesn’t do Danny, Kyrie, etc. any good to say anything, the media won’t listen. They have to get paid.
Rozier is staying to play in the finals. The Celtics are still learning to play with each other. Raptors can beat them now but I think the Celtics will Ben readay In May for the Showdown.
Always said, not enough minutes for all the Boston players…
Bill Simmons seems to think that they’ll trade him by 11/17 : \
Bill Simmons is the most biased sports writer out there and thinks he has all the inside takes on Boston sports. He’s just an idiot. There’s a reason ESPN fired him waaaay before all their other lay offs and why his show sucked on HBO
This year, Rosier is oddly shooting better from 3 than 2– 39% vs 33%. At 6-2 he gets a lot of rebounds and is 3 to 1 in assist ratio.
Always I think, the Cavs could have had him as an IT-trade injury makeup or even as a throw-in… Neither team seemed to value him at the time.
I wonder if Bill Simmons is so influential that he might make his prediction true by pulling Ainge out of a waiting game on Rozier!
I think his value with the Celtics is higher than this trade value; so, I’m guessing he stays, unless he’s insisting and/or it’s part of a larger deal. I can’t see anyone giving up much for him right now. He’s a RFA this summer, and clearly wants to be, and be paid like, a starter; but he’s never been one and doesn’t have elite skills for the position.