Heat land Terry Rozier in trade with Hornets

Guard Terry Rozier is averaging 23.2 ppg this season for the Hornets.

The Miami Heat have added to their backcourt, picking up guard Terry Rozier from the Charlotte Hornets, the teams announced today. In the trade, the Hornets are sending Rozier to the Heat for veteran guard Kyle Lowry and a 2027 first-round pick.

Heat receive:

Hornets receive:

• Kyle Lowry
• 2027 first-round pick

The 2027 pick is lottery protected and would convert to an unprotected pick in 2028 if it doesn’t convey.

What this means: Miami adds a playmaking and scoring guard in Rozier, who is averaging a career-best 23.2 points per game along with 3.9 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He is shooting 45.9% overall and 35.8% on 3-pointers this season.

Lowry joined the Heat via a sign-and-trade deal in 2021 but has slowed considerably since his All-Star days with the Toronto Raptors. He is averaging 8.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 4.0 apg this season while shooting 42.6% overall and 38.5% on 3-pointers. While he has started 35 of the 37 games he has played for Miami, his playmaking duties have often shifted to Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and others.

Miami has struggled on offense this season. It is No. 26 in points per game (110.9), No. 16 in 3-pointers made (12.4 per game), No. 20 in offensive rating (113.4) and No. 17 in true shooting percentage (58%). Last season, the Heat ranked nearly the same in several categories and that lack of offensive punch caught up to them in the NBA Finals, where the Denver Nuggets ousted Miami in five games.

Jacquez has emerged as a regular starter for the Heat, but the addition of Rozier should free he and Herro up from some playmaking duties. As NBA.com’s John Schuhmann noted, the Heat have had some bench issues of late, getting outscored by 34 points in 60 minutes with Herro on the floor last week.

What’s next for Lowry: Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowskithe Hornets don’t plan to buy out Lowry from his deal but may see if they can piece together another trade with him before the Feb. 8 deadline.

Lowry — a six-time All-Star and 2019 NBA champion with Toronto — had started in each of his first 35 appearances with the Heat this season, then was taken out of the starting five last week, and it didn’t take long for speculation to begin that his time with Miami was running short.

Lowry is on a $29.7 million expiring contract, while Rozier, 29, is making $23.2 million this season and is under contract for two more seasons.

The Hornets (10-31) have the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference and are building toward the future around their young core headlined star guard LaMelo Ball and rookie Brandon Miller.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.