Terry Rozier, Heat to participate in 2024 NBA Play-In Tournament

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With the 2023-24 NBA regular season now in the books, the 2024 NBA Playoffs replay will soon begin. But first we have the NBA Play-In Tournament to determine the final two seeds from each conference determine.

While this year's NBA playoffs already have several former Cardinals vying for the Larry O'Bannon Trophy, there's another one trying to crash the party in the NBA Play-In Tournament. This year, point guard Terry Rozier will help the Miami Heat secure one of the final spots for the postseason.

Former Louisville players Donovan Mitchell and Damion Lee have already punched tickets with their respective teams to the NBA playoffs, which begin later this week.

The NBA Play-In Tournament begins Tuesday, but Rozier and the eighth-seeded Heat will not play until Wednesday, April 12. They face the seventh-seeded Philadelphia 76ers, with tip-off taking place at 7:00 p.m. EST on ESPN.

The winner of this showdown officially secures their spot in the NBA playoffs as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference. They would open their postseason run against the second-seeded New York Knicks.

The loser will face the winner of the matchup between the No. 9 Chicago Bulls and the No. 10 Atlanta Hawks on Friday, April 19th. Whoever wins will officially secure the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference and the NBA playoffs against the top-seeded Boston Celtics open.

Rozier started the 2023-24 season with the Charlotte Hornets but was traded to the Miami Heat in January. Since moving to South Beach, the 6-foot-1, 180-pound shooting guard has averaged 16.4 points, 4.6 assists and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 42.3 percent in 31 games and 30 starts shot on the field. When he was traded, he was averaging 23.2 points, 6.6 assists and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 45.9 percent.

After spending the first four seasons of his career with the Boston Celtics, Rozier signed a three-year, $58 million contract with Charlotte as a free agent prior to the 2019–20 season. He later signed a four-year, $97 million maximum contract before the start of the 2021-22 season, and the fully guaranteed contract runs through the 2025-26 season.

Since arriving in Charlotte, Rozier's game has taken a huge step forward. He averaged 7.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 272 games during his four years in Boston, but in his 4.5 seasons with the Hornets he averaged 20 in each category over 298 games, 0, 4.3 and 4.7.

Rozier was drafted by the Celtics with the 16th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft after spending two years at Louisville. In his second season with the Cardinals, he averaged 17.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game and was named a member of the All-ACC Second Team.

(Terry Rozier Photo: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports)

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