The Heat are acquiring Terry Rozier in exchange for Kyle Lowry and a first-round pick
The Charlotte Hornets are reportedly trading Terry Rozier to the Miami Heat in exchange for a 2027 first-round pick along with Kyle Lowry, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The Hornets are taking on Kyle Lowry to add a draft asset that should help them in the future, while the Heat are adding Terry Rozier to help them compete this year.
The first-round pick is lottery protected, then becomes unprotected in 2028, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports.
The Heat currently are 24-19 and sit in sixth in the Eastern Conference. They hope Rozier can help them climb those standings and make another deep run in the NBA Playoffs. The Hornets are 10-31 on the season and were clearly sellers. The Rozier trade confirms that, and they picked up a draft pick that should help them in the long-term.
Last year, Miami made a surprising run to the NBA Finals as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. However, it is clear that the organization would like to get a higher seed going into this year’s playoffs, as evidenced by the trade for Rozier. After a 105-87 loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday, the Heat will take on the Memphis Grizzlies tonight. It will be worth monitoring Rozier’s availability for the game. If he is not able to go, Rozier will likely debut against the Boston Celtics on Thursday.
Roziers was arguably the Hornets’ biggest trade chip, but there are some others who could get moved in the coming weeks ahead of the deadline. It will be interesting to see what moves could come after this for Charlotte.