Terry Rozier plays the blame game as he tries to talk his way out of Boston

The Celtics season may have come to a merciful conclusion last week but the finger pointing of what went wrong in 2019 has just begun.

One of the more prominent players that has been happy to speak on that topic in recent weeks is Terry Rozier. The reserve guard has made numerous appearances on podcasts and ESPN in the past two months and he made his first appearance since Game 5 on ESPN’s Get Up show on Tuesday morning in a one-on-one interview with Mike Greenberg, before appearing in several other shows throughout the day, including First Take. 

Rozier spoke highly of Kyrie Irving in his first interview but sent a couple of veiled shots his way when talking about the challenges of playing with him.

"He's a great guy. Great leader. You just have to adjust to his style," Rozier said. "Whatever Kyrie wants done, he's gonna show it. That's what he wants done. And you have to adjust to his style of play and how he goes about every game every day."

The 24-year-old also highlighted the problem in playing with Irving when referencing the team’s issues executing on the court.

“I think we all had that ultimate goal,” Rozier said. “I think guys, me, Jayson, Jaylen, we had a terrific postseason last year. We were trying to do the same thing this year. I think we all just felt good about it, having practice, our discussions, film talk, but every time we get into the game it’s just that -- I wouldn’t say we wouldn’t follow the gameplan but it would be different. We didn’t go through what our goals were that we had.”

Pressed on what he meant by that later in the interview, Rozier seemingly questioned the rotation and how some (Irving) veered away from the gameplan.

“We would come in the game and it would be a different game plan than what we kind of expected and kind of went through in practice, so it was different," Rozier admitted.

“We would have our first five, then we had a second five, and then when we go out there, I feel like a lot of guys would be mixed up,” Rozier continued. “It wouldn’t be the first five, the second five. What we talked about in practice is not what we went through in the game. It’s like, ‘Alright, we’re going to keep Kyrie out there and we’re going to put other guys out there with him, and we’re going to figure it out.’”

He later referenced Gordon Hayward’s treatment factoring into his own struggles, noting, "The ball in was either Kyrie or Gordon Hayward's hands most of the time. So, I feel like Terry Rozier is just in the corner or on the bench."

One week after indicating that he felt like he had sacrificed more than anyone on the roster, Rozier doubled down on that stance, pointing out that "Anybody in my position would think it’s tough.”

With Rozier hitting restricted free agency later in July, he was pressed about his future in Boston.

“I’m looking forward to just play ball,” Rozier said. “I don’t care where I go. Obviously the Celtics is the only organization I knew for four years. I love it there, and we just have to go from there. ... I expect for me to get my chance, whether it’s with the Celtics or it’s anywhere else. I feel like I can be myself and play my game wherever I go.”

He was asked later in the program though about the possibility of coming back with this current roster intact and threw cold water on the idea.

"I might have to go. I put up with a lot this year. I said what I said after the season. I think we all know that I'm not trying to step into that again."

BSJ ANALYSIS

This thing was a doozy as Rozier made several appearances on First Take over the course of three hours. Let’s try to break down the turmoil with some thoughts on a morning that may follow Rozier around for the rest of his career.

1. Rozier is trying to talk his way out of town: It’s pretty evident with all of these public statements that Rozier

has a game plan with his reps for this summer and that includes him being in Boston with a bigger role or him being somewhere else. Obviously, with his restricted free agency tag, Rozier is not in control of his own destiny so he’s clearly getting some (bad) advice from his camp to go scorched earth in these interviews on the Celtics. He’s been one of the more outspoken players all year long about the Celtics discord but this amount of finger pointing at Irving, Hayward and the coaching staff is far beyond anything we’ve ever seen. He’s clearly trying to poison the locker room to a degree, which in his mind, would lead to the Celtics letting him walk once he signs an offer with another team. The Celtics have the ability to match any offer sheet in restricted free agency. 

2. Danny Ainge is not someone who usually gets bullied by players running their mouths but this interview will put that to the test: Despite Rozier’s wishes, he remains under the control of the Celtics and is still an asset (albeit a very flawed one). Clearly, the team would have brought him back in restricted free agency (at least they would have before this interview) if Irving walked this summer due to a lack of cap room to replace Irving with. This whole situation now puts Ainge in a very challenging spot though if Irving re-signs and someone like Marcus Smart needs to be used in an Anthony Davis trade (as an asset and for salary matching purposes). At that point, the Celtics could use Rozier back in a backup point guard role but will he be able to co-exist with Irving and the coaching staff after these comments? Time heals all wounds but this is a situation that may be too toxic to overcome. Ainge will have to tread lightly here to navigate the situation 

3. Rozier seems confident with these comments that he is going to get a lot of money somewhere else but he’s forgetting that he was not good this season: While some of Rozier’s criticisms may be valid, they overlook the fact that the point guard was not good for the vast majority of the regular season and postseason in a role that he knew he was going to be in. He shot a team-low 32 percent from the field and 23 percent from 3-point range in the postseason despite having the third highest usage rate on the team. He played well on the defensive end against the Pacers but it’s clear that he was going out of his way to make sure he was involved in the offense and took plenty of bad shots along the way. Despite playing two strong months at the end of the 2018 regular season and postseason, the body of work for his entire career is what teams will be looking at more in free agency and it’s not promising. He does a lot of things well (rebounding, low turnovers) but he also does not have good court vision for a point guard and is not an efficient shooter. I wrote several times this year at BSJ that Stevens was giving him too much rope and should look elsewhere for point guard help. After turning down a $12 million per year extension this preseason from the Celtics, Rozier will be lucky to get even close to that number from Boston or any other team this summer. Interviews like Tuesday won’t help his cause on that front either as other organizations won't want to commit big money to a guy that thinks he's better than he is and shoots his mouth off publicly if he becomes unhappy. 

4. The Celtics probably should have just traded Rozier when they had the chance: The bottom line from all of this mess? Some situations are just too toxic to overcome. The Celtics bet that Rozier would be able to put his individual concerns aside to focus on winning in a contract year but it’s clear from his production in the regular season and postseason that he was unable to do that. He clearly needs more opportunity to be at his best (which is still a flawed player) and he wasn’t going to get that here with Irving healthy. The role the Celtics needed Rozier to play was the guy that was a standout bench player in the postseason two years ago. However, that guy never resurfaced amid a disappointing season in which Rozier was trying to be more than the team needed him to be. Instead, a player who could have helped this team a little more (Brad Wanamaker) from a ball distributon perspective was left on the bench. The end result is Rozier is doing all he can to get away from Boston now, creating another headache for the C’s as a challenging offseason begins.