(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Louisville guard Terry Rozier is a popular player in the weeks leading up to the June 25 NBA draft.
So popular he might have to trim back his workout obligations: His audition Sunday with the Charlotte Hornets was his ninth workout with 18 days remaining until the draft. He's already scheduled to work out for seven more teams.
Rozier has reportedly shown well enough that he's now solidly among the 30 players in the first round, which would qualify him for a two-year guarantee under the rookie wage scale. That's welcome news, although Rozier says he doesn't take such predictions for granted. So he'll press on, but with the understanding he needs not to wear out his body and potentially hurt himself.
"I might have to take some off because I know some teams want to bring me back already," Rozier said after the session at Time Warner Cable Arena.
It is commonplace in the NBA for teams with a high interest in a player to schedule a call-back workout, sometimes to rematch him against specific players that team is also considering. Sunday Rozier was in a mix of players mostly of second-round rating. One of those players, Louisiana State guard Kenny Smith, had to pull out of the workout, so the Hornets filled in with Wagner's Marcus Burton, who lives in the Charlotte area.
As Rozier's agent, Aaron Turner, receives more call-back requests, he and Rozier will have to strike a balance in how best to use his remaining time and energy before the draft. The Hornets pick ninth overall in the first round and 39th overall in the second round, so if Rozier has climbed safely into the first round, he'd likely be chosen between those two selections.
Rozier is a 6-foot-1 guard who turned pro after his sophomore season at Louisville. His scoring jumped dramatically (from seven points per game as a freshman to 17.1 as a sophomore), but his shooting suffered. After shooting 37 percent from the college 3-point line as a freshman he made just 30.6 percent of his 3s as a sophomore.
Rozier will need to play mostly point guard to make it in the NBA, but his measurements at the NBA Combine in Chicago work in his favor: He had a 6-foot-8 wingspan and a 38-inch vertical leap, both of which compensate for his height. He led the ACC in steals at two per game.
"It's good" he's hearing positive feedback, Rozier said, "but that's not going to stop me from pushing every time I step on the court. I need to prove something."
Rozier thinks his performance in 5-on-5 games at the Combine made a difference:
"I got to play in a lot space, playing the point guard spot and sacrificing for my team. At the two-guard last season I had to score the ball a lot and maybe that left doubts" whether he could approach the game as a facilitator.
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