NBA: Top 10 candidates for 2019-20 Most Improved Player

Terry Rozier wanted a chance to be the unquestioned floor general for a team and he got his wish when the Charlotte Hornets acquired him in a sign-and-trade to replace All-NBA point guard Kemba Walker this summer.

Rozier got a three-year, $56.7 million deal to come to Charlotte, a large chunk of cash for a player with 30 career starts in four seasons and a 38.0 career field goal percentage.

Rozier had a disappointing season with the Boston Celtics last season, with fewer opportunities amid the dissension that descended on the Boston locker room.

He averaged 9.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 22.7 minutes per game, appearing in 79 games and starting 14. He shot 38.7 percent overall and 35.3 percent on 4.3 3-point attempts per game.

For Rozier to make the leap, he will have to become a more efficient shooter from inside the arc and will have to be more of a playmaker — his 17.0 career assist percentage is very low for a point guard.

But with the rebuilding Hornets, Rozier should get his chance to approach the 16.5 points, 5.7 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 36.6 minutes per game he put up in the 2018 playoffs as he started all 19 games in Boston’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals in place of an injured Kyrie Irving.

In those playoffs, he shot 40.6 percent overall and 34.7 percent on 7.7 deep tries a night.

That’s the player Charlotte hopes it is getting. And if he delivers that for the Hornets, he could thrust himself into the Most Improved Player discussion even if Charlotte finishes near the bottom of the NBA as expected.

Charlotte hasn’t had a Most Improved Player in its odd, split history.