Terry Rozier's tenure with the Boston Celtics is surely winding down, as the 24-year-old understudy to Kyrie Irving has showed his ability to be a starting point guard in the NBA.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, "at least seven teams have been monitoring Rozier's status" at the early stages of the 2018-19 season. The lowly Phoenix Suns are among those teams, sources told Charania.
If the Celtics don't trade Rozier this season, they stand to lose him in the offseason. It was recently reported that Rozier is seeking a multi-year contract that will pay him $20 million a season, certainly way out of Boston's price range.
Kyrie Irving has promised that he'll re-sign with the Celtics, so the super max contract will take up a huge chunk of their cap space already. Down the road, young stars Jaylen Brown and Jayston Tatum will also be in need of long-term deals.
And if the Celtics want to re-sign Al Horford - who can opt out of the final year in his contract this summer - they'll have to clear cap space for that to work. Add it all up, and there's no way they can afford Rozier.
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Knee surgery forced Irving to miss the entire 2018 postseason, but Rozier came off the bench and filled in nicely for the All-Star point guard. He averaged 16.5 point, 5.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game.
The Celtics reached the Eastern Conference Finals, but they fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a close seven-game series. Rozier showed that he has the ability to be a true starter in the NBA, but Boston has too much roster depth to give him that chance.
Rozier is averaging 7.5 points, 2.1 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game for the 6-4 Celtics this season. With Irving back at full strength, Boston has cut back on Rozier's time, thus limiting his production.
All signs point to Rozier leaving Boston in the very near future. The only question is if it'll come via free agency or trade.
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