Rozier Says He Has the Texts. Charlotte Still Has the Problem.

Terry Rozier revealed this week that he's uncovered text messages he believes will clear him in the federal gambling investigation — four criminal counts that have hung over him through the summer. That's his news to manage, and if the texts do what he says, good for him. But Rozier hasn't been a Hornet for a while now, and whatever happens in that case, it doesn't move Charlotte's depth chart.

What does matter is the backcourt picture heading into camp. The Hornets re-signed Coby White to anchor that group, and Kon Knueppel logged 87 games last season as a reliable secondary piece. That's a workable foundation. The issue is that the whole offensive structure was designed around Brandon Miller stepping into the lead role Ball vacated — and as I noted two days ago, Miller has been day-to-day since mid-July. A backcourt without a healthy Miller leaning into it is a backcourt asked to do more than it was built to do.

The Rozier news will generate some Charlotte-adjacent chatter simply because of history. It's worth a note. But the actual instability question for this team isn't legal — it's whether Miller gets to camp healthy and whether White and Knueppel can run an offense that last season averaged nearly five fewer points per game once the calendar got tight.