REPORT: Terry Rozier expects to be ready for Miami Heat training camp.
Terry Rozier’s debut season with the Miami Heat was cut short due to a neck ailment, but he is expected to be ready for training camp next season.
“The hope and expectation is that Rozier’s neck injury will heal and he’ll be ready for training camp at the start of October,” writes Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald.
Now 30 years old, Rozier was acquired in January in a trade with the Charlotte Hornets, but the veteran guard was not able to lift the Heat offense to new heights.
Also dealing with a knee injury that sidelined him briefly, Rozier appeared in 31 regular season games for Miami. He averaged just 16.4 points per game for the Heat after averaging 23.2 points per game in 30 appearances for the Hornets prior to the trade that sent Kyle Lowry to Charlotte.
Rozier’s final game of the 2023-24 NBA season took place on April 7. It was anticipated that his neck injury would be minor, and he sought to play through it. However, after missing the final four regular-season games, he did not play in Miami’s two play-in round games, despite some “cautious optimism” that he might be able to return. He then missed all five games of the team’s first-round loss to the Boston Celtics in the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
At the time, he was said to be sidelined on a week-to-week basis, so it is unknown if he would have been able to return if the Heat had been able to advance further into the playoffs. After the season ended, team president Pat Riley said the thinking is that Rozier will eventually recover.
“It’s a process; it takes time,” Riley said earlier this month. “He said he feels good. When you’re dealing with a spine, you’re not going to mess around with it. It’s going to heal. Doctors convinced us and him that in time it will heal and go away.”
The Heat also had to face the top-seeded Celtics without player Jimmy Butler, who injured his knee in a play-in round loss to the Philadelphia Sixers. The franchise player’s restricted availability may be a rising source of friction, prompting speculation about a trade away from Miami.
The Heat will undoubtedly look for ways to improve this coming offseason. Having a fully healthy Rozier, now with some time with the team under his belt, would certainly help the cause.
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