By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Miami Heat just pulled off its biggest move in the second half of the NBA season after trading veteran point guard Kyle Lowry to the Charlotte Hornets confirmed last January 24, 2024.
In exchange, the Hornets will be shipping scoring guard Terry Rozier and a 2027 first-round Rookie Draft pick to the Heat.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer, the 2027 first-round pick that Charlotte sent to the Heat will become an unprotected Rookie selection come 2028.
With this move, Miami just boosted its scoring options as Rozier is currently averaging 23.2 points, 6.6 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game with the Hornets.
The offensive-minded combo guard became Charlotte’s second-highest scorer behind franchise player LaMelo Ball who is scoring 24.7 points per contest in the current season.
However, it was Rozier who lifted the Hornets to 10 wins this season and became their bonafide closer in several games.
His clutch shooting and off-the-charts ability to find ways to score will be a huge addition to the Heat team that is struggling to put up points on board, only ranking 26th in the league in points per game with 110.9.
In the case of Lowry, his shooting percentages took a toll since arriving in Miami and wasn’t the same when he was still an efficient two-way star in Toronto.
Before leaving the Raptors in 2021, Lowry was still averaging 17.2 points, 7.3 assists, and 5.4 rebounds per game but this season, he is only scoring 8.2 points per contest.
During his second year in Miami, Lowry shot his worst three-point percentage in nine years after tallying 34.5 % from downtown.
Meanwhile, Rozier is a better overall scorer than Lowry this season and is shooting 35.8% from the three-point line in 35.5 minutes per game.
Rozier will now be playing alongside Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. for the rest of the NBA season.
