Charlotte Hornets: Bold predictions for a post-Kemba world

1. Terry Rozier may not be a bad some are predicting

In the eyes of Charlotte Hornets fans, doing very little to retain Kemba Walker was bad enough. Sure, they offered him a five-year, $160 million deal. But let’s be honest, that wasn’t the kind of offer you make to a guy that the owner referred to as one of the best players to ever suit up for the franchise.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Hornets chose to replace the three-time All-Star with former Boston Celtics guard Terry Rozier — not exactly what you would call an upgrade. In some circles, this was ranked as the third-worst move that took place during the offseason.

On the downside, Rozier has been inconsistent during his four-year NBA career. While he did average in double figures (11.3 points per contest) during the 2017-18 season and he is a career 35.4 percent from beyond the arc, his overall shooting numbers aren’t anything to be overly excited about.

Rozier is coming off a season in which he shot just 38.7 percent from the field. Furthermore, Rozier has never surpassed the 40-percent mark in any year he has been in the league. But for some reason, the Hornets believe he’s a suitable replacement for Walker.

Believe it or not, despite the inefficient shooting numbers, there is somewhat of a silver lining in this scenario. In 14 starts for the Celtics last season, Rozier compiled averages of 13.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists per outing. He also shot 42.9 percent from the field while knocking down 40.5 percent of his attempts from distance.

Is Rozier going to make the fan base forget about Kemba Walker anytime soon? Of course not.

On the other hand, since he has shown that he can put up decent numbers when given a larger role — and he will be starting for the Hornets next season — maybe this move won’t turn out to be the train wreck that some have predicted.