Miami Heat stars in Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo provided immediate reactions to the Terry Rozier trade.
Tyler Herro on the trade: “I think it's time for an energy boost around here for sure. Terry's a great player. And we appreciate Kyle and everything he's done for us.”
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) January 23, 2024
Herro is fresh off one of his worst scoring performances of the season to this point. Against the Orlando Magic on Jan. 21, he dropped just 12 points while shooting 4-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-11 from 3-point range in 33 minutes of action.
His star teammate, Adebayo, had a better game than he did. The big man finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and two steals in a game the Heat went on to lose by a final score of 105-87.
Bam on the trade: “Kyle’s been one of my favorite teammates, if not my favorite teammate. … A big brother.”
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) January 23, 2024
Miami’s loss to the Magic marked the team’s third straight defeat. The team also owns a mediocre 5-5 record over its past 10 games, meaning the Heat haven’t been playing their best basketball since the start of the new year.
The Heat traded guard Kyle Lowry along with a 2027 first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Rozier.
Rozier, 29, has played for the Hornets as well as the Boston Celtics during his time in the NBA. He averaged 23.2 points to go along with 3.9 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game across 30 games played with Charlotte during the 2023-24 regular season.
But he had a forgettable game in his last game before being dealt to the Heat. He accumulated 11 points, four assists and two rebounds in Charlotte’s three-point road victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Jan. 22. The Hornets managed to come away with a win despite the fact that Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns scored 62 points on 21-of-35 shooting from the field and 10-of-15 shooting from deep.
Hopefully, Rozier will make his debut with the Heat in the team’s upcoming game against the Memphis Grizzlies at home on Wednesday.
The Grizzlies are far away from contending for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, as evidenced by the team’s subpar 16-27 record. However, Memphis owns a 2-2 record over its past four games and earned an eight-point win over the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 22.
