No doubt Terry Rozier will get a warm welcome when he takes the TD Garden floor with Charlotte for the Celtics’ preseason opener Sunday – and it’s a fair bet he’ll be happy to be here, too.

But he’ll have that edge that’s always been a part of his game, too. It was evident when he told the Charlotte Observer this week, “I’m pissed off about a lot of stuff. I want to prove myself again.”

Rozier never had to worry about what the president of basketball operations in Boston thought about him. Danny Ainge has always been a major supporter — a fact that was evident this week when we came across this quote from an Ainge conversation with the Herald last season that never made its way into print.

“I’m a huge fan of Terry,” Ainge said while the Celtics were bouncing through their uneven 2018-19 season. “I’ve watched over the years what makes people successful. Obviously Terry has talent, but his drive, his athleticism… you know, he’s just a tough kid, and yet he’s a pleasant kid. I’ve liked him from the first day I met him.

“Terry is deeper than just what you see on the court. He’s just a good, really tough kid that has an incredible work ethic, and he is a guy that has the ability, unlike a lot of young guys — although our young guys are pretty good at this — but he has the ability to really put the team first, which is really rare. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to play more, and, like, he was loving his opportunity last year. I think he really did love that opportunity. But how he responded last year when Kyrie (Irving) went down is proof of what he’s made of.

“He’s not the prettiest shooter, he’s not the prettiest ballhandler, he’s not the prettiest decision maker. He just does everything. He competes, and he’s getting better at all of the skills.”

When it came time to replace Irving, the Celtics looked to Kemba Walker, which fit nicely with the Hornets going for Rozier after they knew Walker was looking elsewhere. It was essentially a free agent swap, but to make the numbers work better for both sides, the two were signed and traded for each other. And Rozier got three years at an average of nearly $19 million.

And while Walker is going to be compared here to Irving, Rozier is going to face the Walker comparisons in Charlotte. But, of course, Rozier wants to avoid any shadows.

“I’m not Kemba,” he told the Observer. “I’m not coming in here acting like I’m Kemba. I’m Terry. I respect the hell out of Kemba. When I play against him, I’m going to give him my best, and I know I’ll get his best. But Kemba? I don’t want to hear it. Don’t talk to me about Kemba.”

Checking in

Checking in on some other recent former Celtics…

— There are still some lingering ill feelings in San Antonio about Marcus Morris going back on his verbal commitment to sign there as a free agent.

Morris had agreed to a two-year deal at $20 million total, and the Spurs had traded Davis Bertans to Washington to get that cap space. Then Morris split with agent Rich Paul and did a one-year, $15 million contract with the Knicks.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich didn’t duck the issue on media day.

“It was more than difficult to lose Davis,” he said. “Let’s just say that was an unfortunate situation that was handled unprofessionally on a couple of different levels.

“We made that move to make the signing that we did, and got blindsided. Davis was a special player. He was young and getting better, so we hated losing him.”

Morris explained his side when the Knicks opened their doors.

“As far as my free agency, it didn’t go as planned,” he said. “A lot of those decisions came off of a lot of unknown sources and unknown situations. I kind of committed very early. New York became involved and I saw opportunity — East Coast, the Mecca, [I’m] from Philly.”

Morris probably shouldn’t expect a hug from Pop when the Knicks open their regular season in San Antonio on Oct. 23.

— It doesn’t sound like Al Horford was too confident in what the Celtics could be this season. Down in Philadelphia at the start of camp, he said he signed there because of “the opportunity to win. I am going in my 13th season; that is important to me. I feel we have an opportunity to win now and that was something that was hard for me to pass.”

There’s also the four years at $97 million (which could grow to as much as $109 million) to consider, and no one can fault him for that when it looked originally as if the plan here was to opt out of the final year of his contract and sign for three seasons.

And with the 76ers, he’ll also have to play fewer minutes at center.

“Being able to have a chance with a guy like Joel (Embiid) is really a dream come true for me,” Horford told reporters. “A guy that can do it all on the floor… I believe he is the best big man in the league right now. To be paired up with him and play off of him and learn how to work with him, I am excited.”

— Down in Arizona, Aron Baynes is expected to be very helpful to the young DeAndre Ayton and the Suns as a whole.

“I’ve had the luxury that I’ve seen what it takes to win an NBA championship (San Antonio), and I’ve seen what it is when you’re in a rebuilding phase (the Pistons) and what it can lead to,” Baynes said. “Just how important it is to play team basketball throughout the season, as well.”

He may have been thinking about last year’s Celtics with that last line, too.

Celtics timeline

Sunday vs. Charlotte, 6 p.m. — An earlier start than usual for a “night” game, but late enough to give you time to get there after the Patriots’ game finishes. Beyond getting a first look at the Celtics’ new lineup possibilities and seeing how some returning people have developed, there will be two other attractions. First is the return of Rozier; second is the opening chance for those who didn’t go to see the Bruins in the preseason to get a look at the TD Garden renovations.

Friday at Orlando, 7 p.m. — The Celtics will be flying to Florida early to have a team bonding day as well as another day for practice. A lot of things have changed since last season, but the Magic’s athleticism has regularly given the Celts trouble, so this might be a nice test. Also, it will be a chance to check in on Markelle Fultz‘ comeback.