Miami Heat acquire former Celtics guard Terry Rozier in trade with Hornets

BOSTON -- You can add another layer of intrigue to Thursday night's Celtics-Heat clash in Miami. It's always interesting when the Celtics and the Heat get together, but Miami has now added a former Celtic to the mix.

On Tuesday, the Heat acquired point guard Rozier from the Charlotte Hornets for veteran point guard Kyle Lowry and a 2027 first-round pick, according to multiple reports. Rozier was averaging a career-high 23.2 points and 6.6 assists per game to start his fifth season in Charlotte.

Now he'll share the floor with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Tyler Herro, and his first game in a Heat uniform could come Thursday when Miami hosts Boston at the Kaseya Center. The Heat play the Grizzles on Wednesday night, so Rozier could potentially make his Miami debut that night.

But it would be much more fitting for him to debut against the Celtics, the team he played for during his first four seasons in the NBA. Boston drafted Rozier 16th overall in 2015, and he helped the C's make a surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2018 in place of an injured Kyrie Irving.

Rozier was a fan favorite during his time with the Celtics, known as "Scary Terry" among green teamers, but was traded to the Hornets in the 2019 offseason as part of a sign-and-trade that brought Kemba Walker to Boston. In 12 games against his former team, Rozier has averaged 17.7 points off 38 percent shooting to go with 5.3 assists per game. He was just 2-10 against Boston while with Charlotte.

Thursday night will be the second time the Celtics and the Heat play each other this season. Boston won the first rematch of last year's Eastern Conference Finals, 119-111, in Boston on Oct. 27. 

The Heat are currently 24-19 this season, and trail the first-place Celtics by 9.5 games in the Eastern Conference standings. But adding Rozier to the mix makes them a bit, shall we say scarier, in the East.