5. Terry Rozier is still young
Since James is 36 years of age, and since the Lakers are a fast-breaking team that wins with defense, the team needs plenty of young players.
Rozier is just 27 years of age, which means he should have plenty of juice in his body to give L.A. what it needs moving forward.
Westbrook, Paul and Lowry are all deep in their 30s. While they all had strong campaigns this season, there is significant risk attached to them, as they’re more injury prone and could fall off a cliff as soon as next season.
Rozier has never really had significant injury concerns. Other than his rookie season (when he got only 8.0 minutes per game), he has never appeared in fewer than 63 regular-season contests. He played 63 games in 2019-20 when the Charlotte Hornets only played 65 games.
The year he played in “only” 63 games was last year, when the season was suspended due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. As a result, the Hornets only played a total of 65 games since they were not invited into the NBA’s bubble last summer.
This season, Rozier played in 65 of a possible 72 games. Before last season, he appeared in 74, 80 and 79 contests. As they say, the best ability is availability.
In addition, if Rozier were to choose to stay with the Lakers long-term (he will be a free agent at the end of next season), the fact that he’s only 27 means that he could give the team several more years of productive play.