Some interesting reports surfaced about Terry Rozier’s future in Boston on Wednesday, but a different tune was being sung Thursday morning.
Bill Simmons of The Ringer on Wednesday suggested that Rozier was unhappy about his playing time and very well could be traded soon. Meanwhile, The Athletic’s NBA Insider Shams Charania wrote that seven teams were “monitoring” Rozier, and that the Phoenix Suns were the most active in their pursuit.
But Thursday morning, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge threw a little bit of cold water on the situation.
Danny Ainge on @Toucherandrich said that no teams have called him about Terry Rozier since start of the season and Ainge doesn’t know anything about seven teams monitoring him.
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) November 8, 2018
There still is some reading between the lines that can be done here. It seems apparent that teams were calling about Rozier prior to the season starting, but that they’ve since diminished since the start of the season. And just because Ainge isn’t aware of other teams monitoring Rozier doesn’t mean that it isn’t happening — especially because “monitoring” can mean different things for different teams.
Getting rid of Rozier right now would be poor asset management. Although Kyrie Irving said he wants to stay in Boston, until he puts pen to paper (which wouldn’t happen until July), Rozier is the next best option at point guard. If they were to trade Rozier and then Irving changed his mind, the Celtics would be in a pretty tough spot.
Furthermore, Ainge also indicated Thursday that Rozier hasn’t said anything to him or Brad Stevens about being frustrated with his playing time.
