I know Rozier gets a lot of crap on this board. But looking at that 2015 draft, he's one of the very few drafted before him that had not already been cut or traded until now.
1 Minnesota Karl-Anthony Towns
2 LA Lakers D'Angelo Russell - TRADED
3 Philadelphia Jahlil Okafor - TRADED
4 New York Kristaps Porzingis - TRADED
5 Orlando Mario Hezonja - TRADED
6 Sacramento Willie Cauley-Stein - NOT RESIGNED
7 Denver Emmanuel Mudiay - TRADED
8 Detroit Stanley Johnson - NOT RESIGNED
9 Charlotte Frank Kaminsky - TRADED
10 Miami Justise Winslow
11 Indiana Myles Turner
12 Utah Trey Lyles - TRADED
13 Phoenix Devin Booker
14 Oklahoma City Cameron Payne - TRADED
15 Washington Kelly Oubre - TRADED
16 Boston Terry Rozier . [Will be traded July 6th]
Looking in the rear view, the Rozier pick doesn't look too bad. Sure he had a bad season this year, the whole team did. But the post season of 2018 he was a nice asset.
And him getting $19MM/yr from Charlottes isn't too shabby.
just makes me realize there were a lot of projected studs in that draft that are a lot closer to duds.
not being traded doesn't mean much. for example, is there anyone who wouldn't take Zinger over Rozier despite the fact Zinger's been traded? I know the Knicks would love to have a healthy Zinger on their roster right now.
I thought about that point too, but there's something to be said about guys who, while better talents than Rozier, presented a problem of some sort or asked to be traded.
Terry never asked to be traded, but to play more, or get the chance to start. We were considering re-signing him if the Kemba deal didn't fall into our laps.
A happy Terry could have existed here next year, which is different from a disgruntled Porzingas-- although that isn't his fault either as everyone on the Knicks should be disgruntled.
A case could be made that after:
Towns
Russell
Porzingas
Booker
...that Terry is favorably compared talent-wise to these other guys picked before him:
Miles Turner
Kelly Oubre
I wouldn't say that any other player on that list was definitely a better talent/asset than Rozier. He's at best the 5-8th best (current) talent from that list. But no worse than the 11th. A solid pick by Danny and development of the player by the staff.
I really don't get how you can talk about how some of those guys presented problems, but gloss over Rozier's toxic presence this last season as "wanting to play more"
It also seems weird to me that when people are talking about how Terry was a solid pick they look at those taken ahead of him. What I'm more interested in are the players taken after him, as there are lots who I would rather Danny have taken (some at the time, many in hindsight).
Portis, RHJ, Nance, Harrell, Osman, Willy Hernangomez, Richardson, and Connaughton were all taken after him and I would have preferred all.
Portis was deadline dumped and then his new team chose not to match what NY offered him, which was less than Terry got. RHJ wasn’t even given a QO and is still unsigned. Nance is a rotation big, nothing more, nothing less. Hernangomez was a 10th man on a worse team and struggled to separate himself from Biyombo. Osman looked promising in limited minutes on a good team, but less so in heavy minutes on a bad team. Connaughton a 3&D guy who shoots worse from 3 than Rozier. Harrell and Richardson have both been good, but 16th picks are almost always outplayed by 1 or 2 of the 30 second rounders who are selected after them, because that’s just how it works when it’s one against 30.
Honestly, your evaluation is questionable at best, and ignores the fact that the one time Rozier was given an extended starting role he outplayed every single one of those guys by significant margins, except maybe Harrell this year, and comparing big to PGs is always a fraught exercise.
