This 2024-25 campaign turned into a nightmare season for the Miami Heat’s Terry Rozier. As part of a midseason trade last year, the Heat envisioned a version of Rozier that never came to fruition. And now the team benefits from games that he doesn’t play.
Prior to his acquisition from the Charlotte Hornets, Rozier was in the midst of a career year. Rozier averaged a career-high 23.2 points, 6.6 assists and nearly 4.0 rebounds on 46% shooting in the first 30 games of that 2023-24 season.
Although it took him time to adjust following the trade, he displayed some of that ability at the end of his first season with the Heat.
He had several standout performances and even a five-game sample size in which he averaged nearly 30 points, until he suffered a concerning yet mysterious neck injury. This would ultimately sideline him for the final week of last season and the entirety of the Heat’s brief postseason appearance.
Fast forward to a full year later, and it has only continued to go downhill for Rozier.
“Scary Terry” never lived up to the hype, as those impressive numbers to end his Charlotte tenure would plummet in Miami this season. He finished this season averaging 10.6 points (lowest since 2018), 2.6 assists and 3.7 rebounds on horrific 39% shooting and 29.5% from 3-point range.
Terry Rozier’s game has completely fallen off a cliff, and it’s only gotten worse as the season has gone on.
In the Heat’s season finale, several key players rested in preparation for the Play-In, and Rozier unsurprisingly put up another goose egg in his last-ditch opportunity to impress. He finished with two points on 1 for 9 shooting, including 0 for 4 from 3-point range.
He came into the year penciled in as the Heat’s starting point guard. He was eventually moved into a bench role, and then to regular DNP-CDs.
For a player who was expected to be a needle mover on a Jimmy Butler-led squad with championship hopes, Rozier’s fit has been nothing short of disappointing.
The worst part is that the Heat are locked into one more season with Rozier’s near $26 million salary still on the books. But for now, Miami still has playoff hopes in the picture— and that picture should not include any more chances for Rozier.
The team has looked significantly worse in his empty minutes, providing nearly zero impact on either side of the ball. He looks rattled and pressed on the court to no avail of any sort of consistent breakthrough in the Spoelstra’s rotation.
If the Heat want any real chance of keeping their season alive in Chicago and Wednesday night, their best chance comes with Rozier remaining on the bench.