Rozier's Free Agency Starts With Access
Terry Rozier's attorney asked a judge to modify his release terms as NBA free agency approached. That is the basketball issue before any team gets to the cleaner question fans prefer: how much is he worth?
The practical answer is simple and inconvenient. If the request is about lifting a ban on contact with the Hornets, then Rozier's free-agency path is not operating like ordinary veteran shopping. Teams are not just weighing a player profile in the abstract. They are waiting to see whether the normal parts of a free-agent process can actually happen cleanly: contact, evaluation, comfort, timing.
That matters because roster decisions do not happen in a vacuum. They happen on clocks. Front offices line up contingencies, compare veterans, decide which conversations are worth pursuing, and move when the market gives them permission. A restricted-contact situation complicates that rhythm. It does not automatically make Rozier untouchable. It also does not let anyone pretend this is a standard market-value debate with a legal headline taped to the side.
The sloppy fan version is to jump straight to a verdict: sign him, avoid him, overpay him, forget him. Fine for a group chat. Not serious enough for a front office. The colder read is that Rozier's free agency should be judged first by process access, then by basketball fit.
Until that access question changes, the market is not just asking what Rozier can bring. It is asking whether teams can engage the situation normally before the decisions start stacking up.