Despite being the most scrutinized pick from the last draft, Terry Rozier has quickly earned the trust of Brad Stevens and is in line to be a prominent player for the Boston Celtics for the upcoming years. He benefitted from injuries, but the way Rozier filled in will give the Celtics all the guard depth they will need for a long time. There are still too many questions surrounding R.J Hunter and Jordan Mickey needs more opportunities as Rozier has separated himself from the other rookies, especially after playing over 11 straight significant minutes in a playoff game.
The key for Rozier is that, despite having four strong guards ahead of him on the depth chart, he has already established a level of trust with Brad Stevens. The best part of the Celtics’ roster in their guards and Rozier is not just extra death because he provided a solid boost any time he was in the lineup.
Rozier was able to gain Stevens’ trust so quickly for two reasons. Firstly, his defensive activity and energy (particularly on the boards) keeps up with anyone on the team. The Celtics continually went with small ball and having guards that can rebound go a long way in preserving their opportunities. Rozier did a great job of keeping opponents off the offensive boards, and he did a better job of that than perhaps anyone else on the roster.
Rozier did a phenomenal job, averaging 7.3 rebounds per 36 minutes, better than Evan Turner‘s mark of 6.3 rebonds per 36 minutes, and he has been a top rebounding guard the past two seasons for the Celtics. The Celtics needed to optimize their quantity of opporununties with how poor they shot this year and Rozier’s rebounding became a true option for Stevens, and that is something that no other rookie on the team can say.
Then the playoffs came around and Rozier did an even better job of establishing trust in another way. The injury to Avery Bradley gave him an opportunity to get significant minutes in almost every game and even though his shooting needs a lot of work, he functions at an extremely high level in Stevens’ offense.
In 99 minutes played un these playoffs, Roziert had a grand total of 2 turnovers. Rozier was not a primary ball handler but he continuously looked to make plays and never put the Celtics in a bad position. The Celtics are used to accommodating bad shooters and Rozier was quite bad this season. That being said, Rozier never took their offense out of rhythm and he never put the opposing team in a stronger position. Rozier played with all the aggressiveness but did not allow that to lead to a significant amount of mistakes.
The Celtics have gathered a great collection of young and talented guards and while that has given them plenty of options, the reality is that there won’t be room for all of them. James Young can’t expect to be a part of the team for much longer but other than that, the Celtics will have some difficult decisions to make in the future.
Contract wise, there is uncertainty around both Avery Bradley and Evan Turner. Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Smart are certainly the two most secure guards on the team but Rozier could be right there behind them. The trust that Stevens is putting into Rozier is similar to how he approached both Smart and Turner. Both those guards struggled in a lot of areas but Stevens found a way to get good contributions from their talent and the same is being done with Rozier.
Rozier is doing all those smaller things that have been crucial to Stevens’ team. Rozier can maintain one of the strongest defensive cores of guards in the NBA and, as is the case with Smart, he will be given time to adjust his offensive game. Unfortunately, there is a lot of progress needed on that end by Rozier, who shot 27% on the year and 22% from three.
Rozier will not be a main contributor for the Celtics until he improves his ability to shoot but the fact that Stevens continued to look his way despite those shooting struggles is the biggest indicator. Stevens found a way to make Turner an effective offensive player and if Rozier can continue to have a huge impact on the defensive end and on the boards then Stevens will make sure to find a way to get effective offensive plays from Rozier.
Next: Boston Celtics Playoff Report Care
Depending on how the draft and free agency goes, the Celtics could undergo a flurry of changes this offseason. No one can consider themselves truly safe but Rozier has already shown the potential to be a main rotation player and as it stands now he should expect a proper opportunity to prove that he can make the improvements that will allow him to be a great player for the Celtics.