Terry Rozier is no longer the Hornets’ ‘new guy.’ How he has adapted to Ball, Hayward
Terry Rozier says it’s not the Charlotte Hornets’ problem to figure out what’s best for him, it’s his job to figure out what’s best for the team.
Ten games into last season, Devonte Graham moved into the starting lineup, shifting Rozier from the point to primarily shooting guard. Now, the Hornets have drafted LaMelo Ball No. 3 overall, seemingly creating a crowd of ball-handling guards.
Rozier signed a 3-year, $56.7 million contract in the summer of 2019 to play for the Hornets. Adapting comes with this job.
“It just goes back to adjusting to what is best for the team — what can help us get better,” said Rozier, entering his sixth NBA season. “When you’ve got a guy like Devonte, who has developed lot — a guy who has the ball a lot — (you adapt to) playing off of it. To give my team the best look I can. I became a great catch-and-shoot guy last year. That’s adding to my game, doing multiple things.”
The Hornets made major changes this offseason by drafting Ball and adding free agent forward Gordon Hayward, a former teammate of Rozier’s with the Boston Celtics. Those players will need the ball a lot if the Hornets are to excel. That figures to lower Rozier’s usage (he was 91st among NBA players last season at 23.2% of Charlotte plays.)
Rozier doesn’t view Ball as a threat to his status. He’s already started a mentoring relationship.
“I’ve been following him for years. We reached out to each other years ago, before he was coming here,” Rozier said. “He’s younger than me, so I call him, ‘Lil Bro.’ ”
Rozier sees Ball as a way for the Hornets to be more explosive and less predictable offensively.
“Three is better than one. The way we plan (to play) this year, a lot of people will be in for surprises,” Rozier said. “If you’re closest to the rebound, you push (the dribble). You play off one another, whether all three of us are in there at the same time or whether G (Gordon Hayward) is in there with two of the three.”
Rozier said during the Hornets’ mini-camp in late October that he needs to stop being the “new guy” in Charlotte — be a more vocal, assertive leader. Coach James Borrego has seen a difference already in the first few days of training camp.
“He’s more engaged than ever — probably more than all (last) season already. Engaged with teammates and coaches. He’s in a very good place,” Borrego said.
Particularly in the example Rozier sets: It takes a degree of selfishness for a player to reach the NBA level. However, understanding what’s good for the group — not undermining the roster’s improvement — is often what makes for a sustained pro career. That big-picture thinking is, for instance, what helped keep ex-Hornet Marvin Williams in the league 15 years.
“It’s really putting team first, and that’s not easy to do in this league,” Borrego said of Rozier. “He’s been fantastic. He’s had a great camp.”
Cody Zeller’s status
With Borrego saying last week that power forward P.J. Washington would play “a lot” of center this season, there was speculation center Cody Zeller could be marginalized. Borrego countered that emphatically Monday.
“Cody Zeller is likely to be our starter,” Borrego said, later adding, “Cody is a heck of a player. I feel very comfortable with him as our starter (and) as our closer.”
How much Borrego uses a small-ball lineup with Washington at center and Miles Bridges at power forward figures to be a game-to-game calculation, based partially on match-ups with opponents.
LaMelo Ball impressions
Hornets fans get their first look at Ball on Saturday in a home preseason game against the Toronto Raptors. No fans will be at that game, but it will be televised on Fox Sports Southeast.
Borrego has made two observations about Ball lately: That what he’s shown in practice reflects his daring passer reputation, and that he’s relatively sophisticated tactically for a rookie.
“If you’re not watching him when he has the ball, you better get your eyes up because that ball is coming,” Borrego said.
Borrego talked Monday about Ball tactically:
“There’s not a whole lot to teach LaMelo right now in the pick-and-roll; he understands spacing (and) who is open.
“There are going to be different coverages every night, and LaMelo is going to have to figure out those coverages, but I don’t anticipate he’s going to see something probably that he hasn’t seen before. He is a high-level decision-maker.”
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 12:57 PM.
