Charlotte Hornets
Breakout candidate: Terry Rozier
Ideally, after the summer that the Charlotte Hornets just had, the team desperately needs a star to emerge. Filling the void that Kemba Walker left won’t be easy, but if there’s one player on this roster that could potentially do that it’s Terry Rozier. The Hornets acquired Rozier via sign-and-trade in the Kemba deal.
While he didn’t exactly play a huge role for the Celtics last season, there is hope that Rozier could be a legit starting point guard in the NBA, potentially even a star. Rozier helped carry an injury-plagued Boston team to the Eastern Conference Finals two years ago, who were without both Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward.
Over the course of the playoffs, Rozier averaged 17 points, six assists and five rebounds per game during that run. If Rozier can be that player for the Hornets, there’s no question Charlotte will be happy with the swap. Although, that’s a big question mark. Hopefully, Hornets fans will be shouting “Scary Terry,” and not in a sarcastic way.