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Miami Heat fans won’t have to wait long for Terry Rozier’s debut.
After ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Tuesday that Miami traded Kyle Lowry and a protected 2027 first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets for Rozier, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported the guard will make his Heat debut for Wednesday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
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Miami could certainly use the boost after losing its last three games and falling to 24-19. It is in sixth place in the Eastern Conference but just a half-game ahead of the Indiana Pacers for the cut-off to avoid the play-in tournament.
Facing the Grizzlies is something of a soft landing spot for Rozier as he grows accustomed to his new team considering Memphis is just 16-27 and without several key players, including Ja Morant, because of injury.
Rozier figures to provide a scoring spark for the Heat and is averaging a career-best 23.2 points, 6.6 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from deep this season for Charlotte.
He is a career 36.7 percent shooter from three-point range and will likely be asked to take advantage of the spacing created by playing alongside Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
Perhaps the scoring numbers will come down some on a better team with more surrounding talent, but Rozier can be a potential difference-maker in a postseason series against the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks or Philadelphia 76ers.
That is exactly what Miami needs considering it is in championship-or-bust mode after coming so close in recent years. The Heat have been to three of the last four Eastern Conference Finals and one NBA Finals in that span but haven’t lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy since LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were leading the way in 2013.
Fans will get their first look at the new Heat that will be tasked with bringing home that trophy when they face the struggling Grizzlies.
