Terry Rozier’s strong season opener paves way to win sixth man of the year award

After a breakout season in 2017-18, Terry Rozier is ready to make a run at the 6th man of the year award for the Boston Celtics.

There are a lot of things that Terry Rozier is good at. He’s an incredible brand builder, a great tattoo creator, and an even better gum-chewer. He’s also very good at the game of basketball.

The Boston Celtics were looked at as being one of the top teams in the NBA last season and the biggest threat to taking down the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference. But after a nasty injury to Gordon Hayward in the 2017 opener, and an injury to Kyrie Irving late in the year that robbed him of being able to play in the playoffs, the Celtics were down to just one big name player – or so they thought.

That’s until former Louisville star, Terry Rozier, exploded onto the scene – becoming an overnight NBA star in the 2018 playoffs for the Celtics. Just because he wasn’t a household name leading up to the playoffs didn’t mean Rozier wasn’t a solid role player for the Celtics. Coming off the bench behind Kyrie Irving, Boston’s face of the franchise, Rozier averaged 11.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in roughly 25 minutes alone.

Once Irving was lost for the season Rozier seized his opportunity as his numbers jumped and he averaged 15.2 points, 6 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in over 30 minutes of play. Rozier didn’t shy away from the big stage either when the Celtics entered the playoffs.

Instead his play got better, and his infamous “Scary Terry” persona made him and his team must watch television. Whether it was calling Eric Bledsoe, “Drew Bledsoe” or wearing a Drew Bledsoe jersey to a game, or even wearing a Scary Terry, Drew Bledsoe t-shirt – Rozier continued to keep the nation on the edge of their seats. Oh yeah, his play was pretty damn good too.

Many believed that the Celtics would trade Rozier in the offseason due to him being a free agent after this season and because of Kyrie Irving already being signed long-term. But after making a decision to keep Rozier, and even re-signing Marcus Smart – the Celtics believe they are set to make a championship run this season.

Brad Stevens has spent a lot of time talking about his reserve guard this offseason, acknowledging that finding playing time for him was difficult.

"“I just have to figure out how to get him as many minutes as possible. He’s tremendous. Not only in the way he plays when you guys all see him in the games, but just the way he goes about his everyday business. He works as hard as anybody on our roster.”"

Last night the regular season tipped off with Terry’s Boston Celtics going head-to-head with one of the best young-up-and-coming teams in the NBA, the Philadelphia 76ers. Rozier, who will come off the bench this season for the Celtics – playing behind Irving and Jaylen Brown, was expected to big a big time player in the game, and making big plays is all he did.

Whether it was stuffing big man, Joel Embid’s, shot into next week. Crossing up the entire 76ers defense and throwing a nasty lob to Marcus Morris, or even knocking down highly defended jumpers from the outside.

Rozier showed off a deep bag of tricks last night in the beginning game of what I believe could easily be a sixth man of the year type season. Playing on the second best team in the NBA, for one of the top coaches in the league, and being instant energy, play making, and scoring for the Celtics, Terry Rozier could begin to show the rest of the league that last season’s playoffs were no fluke.

In fact, with Monday’s deadline to come to an agreement on an extension, Terry Rozier is now attempting to show the league that’s worth max money and could be a cornerstone for a franchise for many years to come.

Last night was just the start. 11 points and 8 rebounds doesn’t tell the full story – but give Scary Terry a full 82 games and see what he can do for the Boston Celtics.