Lakers News: LA Misses Out On Rumored Trade Target Terry Rozier To Heat

You snooze, you lose.

Your Los Angeles Lakers will miss out on adding one of the more intriguing two-way point guards on the market this morning.

Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Miami Heat are flipping the expiring $29.7 million contract of All-Star-turned-reserve veteran point guard Kyle Lowry and their 2027 first round draft pick to the Charlotte Hornets for point guard Terry Rozier. Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reports that the draft selection will be lottery-protected in 2027, but if it doesn't convey that year, it will become unprotected the next season.

Rozier, 29, is averaging career highs of 23.2 points on .459/.358/.845 shooting splits and 6.6 assists, along with 3.9 boards and 1.1 steals a night. He represents a massive present-day upgrade over the aging Lowry, and will also save the Heat a little coin, as he's making "just" $23.2 million this season, although Miami will be on the hook for his services through at least 2024-25 (he is owed a partially-guaranteed $26.6 million deal in 2025-26). Per Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the 6'1" combo guard numbered among many backcourt players Los Angeles had been considering.

The 24-19 Heat, who as you'll recall made the Finals last season before letting their starting backcourt depart in free agency, are currently just the sixth seed in the East, and it was clear they would need to make some kind of upgrade in that department to compete with the conference's best team this year, the Boston Celtics.

Even though LA was unable to obtain Rozier's services, the team may still have a chance to capitalize on some of the collateral from this move. Lowry seems likely to vie for a buyout from a 10-31 Charlotte team going nowhere fast. He's still a valuable player two-way player, albeit nowhere near his former All-NBA peak. Depending on what happens to the Lakers' current assembly of backcourt contributors (specifically point guards D'Angelo Russell and Gabe Vincent, both of whom have been floated as possible trade chips) by the NBA's February 8th deadline, adding Lowry as a useful 3-and-D point guard off the bench might be worth exploring.