Terry Rozier relishing his trade landing spot, ‘I fit the Heat culture’

MIAMI – Terry Rozier’s initial introductory comments were brief on Wednesday night at Kaseya Center, still with a game to play against the Memphis Grizzlies.

But in the wake of his Tuesday trade from the Charlotte Hornets to the Miami Heat for Kyle Lowry and a first-round pick, one particular comment was pitch perfect.

“I feel like I fit the Heat culture,” he said at a hastily called, brief pregame media session, just just an hour after being cleared to be active for Wednesday night’s game.

From his jersey swap with Heat icon Dwyane Wade during Wade’s farewell tour in 2019 to his posting of social media in praise of the Heat, Rozier said it was the perfect landing spot.

“It’s been no secret how much love I’ve had for the Miami Heat growing up, and D-Wade,” he said. “So this is definitely a full-circle moment and I’m just happy to be back on that stage, in a playoff race. It’s huge.”

And, with that, Rozier stepped from the Hornets’ annual trudge to the lottery to the Heat’s spot in the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Asked what he thought he could deliver amid this uneven stretch for the Heat, Rozier again went for another Heat touchstone.

“Just the toughness,” the 6-foot-1 guard said. “I add the toughness for sure, definitely a guy that’s not selfish. I look for myself and look for my teammates. So definitely being part of the Heat culture, I think I fit right in and I’l be ready to play right away.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Rozier very much fits the team’s culture.

“We’re really excited about it,” he said of the acquisition. “Probably two months ago, you don’t really think about this or that a move like this could be possible. He just has a lot of those competitive qualities that we respect and we think not only resonate with us, but help impact winning in a big way.

“He’s a competitive guy. And winning matters to him. He respects our uniform. He really wanted to be here, and not everybody wants to play for us. So that matters. You want to have like-minded competitors that view competition in a very similar way.”

Rozier, 29, enters as the fourth Heat player averaging at least 20 points this season.

“I’m not here to step on nobody’s toes,” he said. “Obviously, I want to be me. But I’m just here to contribute and help this team get over that hump and that’s what I want to do.”

Spoelstra said he views it as a win-win situation for the Heat and Rozier.

“We could use some offensive punch right now,” Spoelstra said, “and I think he has the personality and the game that will fit in. I don’t think he’ll try to step in here and overpower anybody. I think he just wants to complement.

“And more than anything, in talking to him, he just wants to be part of winning again.”

Among the elements that made the Heat such an enticing landing spot, he said, was the opportunity to play pick-and-roll with Heat center Bam Adebayo.

“I think we’re just both competitors, so we’ve always got that respect when we’re playing against others now,” he said. “Both on the same team is huge for both of us. And I think the pick-and-roll is going to be special, and you’ve got to pick your poison.”

While the hope is to hit the ground running, there also is an appreciation of an adjustment from largely playing as leading man with the Hornets.

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“I want to take my time,” he said. “Things are not going to be perfect right away. You see how things are going. But, like I said, I feel like I fit the Heat culture and I’m coming right in just to pick things up on the defensive side and let everything else take care of itself.”

Spoelstra said his initial conversations were with a player who simply wants to fit in.

“He wanted to make a point of it, too, that he doesn’t have to be ball dominant,” Spoelstra said. “I think that just shows a maturity.

“I think he just wants to get back to an environment where he can contribute and help a team win.”

Part of the adjustment for Rozier is switching from his Hornets’ No. 3 to a Heat No. 2, with ample reminder of the meaning of No. 3 in Heat lineage.

And, no, that Heat’s No. 3 jersey that Wade swapped four years ago remains a prize possession.

“It means everything, just to get that opportunity to trade jerseys, play against him, after all these years I’ve been watching him,” he said. “I’ve definitely still got the jersey. That’s not going nowhere.”