BOSTON — Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens said it’s on him to find as many minutes as possible for backup guard Terry Rozier, especially given the way the young guard has performed at the start of the exhibition season.
Rozier, who shined in a starting role in place of Kyrie Irving as the Celtics surged to the cusp of the NBA Finals last season, is expected to slide back to a reserve role this year. But Stevens said it’s his job to maximize Rozier’s floor time.
"I just have to figure out how to get him as many minutes as possible. He’s tremendous,” said Stevens. "And, 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.
"It’s immediate energy; it’s noticeable when he’s in the game. That’s just one of those things that’s going to be important for our team moving forward. To [Rozier’s] credit, all he’s done is come in and work and played. That’s all he usually does.”
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Stevens said the return of two All-Stars doesn’t necessarily change the challenge of finding minutes ("All 15 guys on every team want to play all 48 minutes,” he noted). For his part, Rozier is saying all the right things despite staring at a potentially reduced role.
“When I come in, I’m trying to change the game, trying to impact the game, trying to lift us all up, trying to fly around, be everywhere, get steals, stuff like that,” said Rozier. "That’s my goal. That’s my job. I think that’s all our goals coming off the bench: to pick up where the first string left off.”
Rozier, who said he was on board with Marcus Morris’ “Bench With Attitude” nickname, was asked if he might make the Sixth Man of the Year award a goal but said his main focus is team success.
“[An individual award is] something good to have. I want to win [games],” said Rozier. "I want to win as a whole. I want the big trophy. If I get any individual goal as far as Sixth Man and all that, it’s good to have, but I think we can be very special, we can win the whole thing.”
Rozier is set to earn $3 million this season and will be a restricted free agent next summer.
Last year’s playoff run has helped Rozier’s star rise a bit and put more eyes on his play. It also helped him ink a shoe deal with Puma this summer. Rozier had on a pair of bright pink and yellow Puma shoes on during Sunday’s exhibition win over the Hornets and is quite proud of his creative influence in Puma’s basketball shoes.
“I’ve got a lot of control. I’m trying to have some drip, come out with some drip -- mainly for the young kids,” said Rozier. "Just let them know, man, Nike and Adidas is everywhere. But being different is something I take pride in. And like I said, Puma’s the new wave. You can get on the train or get lost. It don’t really matter to me. It don’t help me out. I’m gonna still come through with the drip regardless.”