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When the Raptors signed Kyle Lowry for a one-year, $ 30 million extension after their 2019 NBA Championship, speculation immediately started whether this was a contract designed to make Lowry a commercial target. more attractive given that he would be under the control of the team until 2021. season.
Here we are in the 2021 season.
The Raptors hung on to Lowry last season and were once again a top team. This season has not gone so well. The Raptors got off to a treacherous start and come into play Thursday with a 16-17 record, good enough for the current No.5 seed in the heaviest Eastern Conference, but far from an argument significant.
There’s an argument that Toronto could look to be a deadline buyer and add room for another potential playoff series, but with Lowry set to turn 35 in March and with a deal expiring, the Raptors could. also be inclined to cash in from the Lowry business while they are ahead. Rather than face the dilemma of quitting it this summer or losing it for nothing, the Raptors could trade the franchise icon as its value remains relatively high.
This latter scenario makes too much sense for Lowry’s business rumors not to start surfacing at this point in the timeline. On Friday night, Lowry’s agent Mark Bartelstein took to SiriusXM Radio and proclaimed the Philadelphia Inquirer report from earlier today that had a potential Lowry deal between Toronto and the Sixers to be exactly that, a rumor and an unfounded one at this.
“A lot of rumors and things that are written about are just… they’re just rumors and they’re designed to get people to click on the article.… It happened today with Kyle Lowry. Was a story today that he insists on going to Philadelphia. It just isn’t true. This story came out today so I had to call with [Raptors president] Masai [Ujiri] and [general manager] Police officer [Webster] and make sure they knew it was definitely not coming from us. “
So let’s start with the obvious here: Much of the sports news you read or hear comes from agents. They absolutely want certain things to be printed and talked about. It also goes without saying that there are some things they don’t want to be talked about, at least not at certain points in a discussion. Either way, their motivation is always to create leverage for their client.
Now on to the actual report, which comes from a trusted journalist Keith Pompey. Nowhere in his article did Pompey write that Lowry was “pushing or is” pushing to go to Philadelphia, “as Bartelstein suggested. Here is exactly what Pompey wrote:
Kyle Lowry would be a perfect fit for the 76ers.
The same can be said about the Miami Heat. The best place for the native Philly and Toronto Raptors point guard, however, is the Los Angeles Clippers.
These three teams could become potential business destinations for former high school Cardinal Dougherty and Villanova, sources say. That is, of course, if Lowry chooses not to end the season with the Raptors.
A source said Lowry would like to be in Philly. The source believes the Sixers and Raptors might be able to do something. But if that happens, Toronto would likely want picks, young players and veterans with expiring contracts for Lowry, who is making $ 30 million this season.
Lowry would “suit” the 76ers perfectly. That is true. Lowry would also make sense for the Heat and the Clippers. True. These teams “could” become potential business destinations for Lowry “if” he doesn’t stay in Toronto. Finally, Lowry “would love to be in Philadelphia” and the Sixers and Raptors “might be able to do something.”
The only part of it that could, perhaps, be interpreted as Lowry pushing for a trade with the Sixers is Pompey stating that Lowry would like to be in Philly. He’s not saying Lowry is pushing for it. What he’s saying is that “if” Lowry were to leave Toronto, which by the way could benefit the Raptors as much as Lowry, obviously Philadelphia would be a desirable landing point. It is his hometown.
Pompey ended his report by stating that the Raptors “want to reward Lowry for his years of service by helping him get an opportunity to win another NBA title.” This, to me, sounds more like the Raptors wanting to trade Lowry than Lowry being the one pushing for anything, only with the elegant caveat that they will, or want, to do their franchise icon the honor. not to send it somewhere it doesn’t. I do not want to go.
So it’s very reasonable that this is all we’re talking about behind closed doors, and for Bartelstein’s taste, it was just too early in the process for anything to be made public. It could hurt leverage in one way or another. It could just be an agent not wanting his client to be portrayed in a negative light as a guy asking for a trade, even if that’s the furthest thing from what Pompey reported.
Once again, let’s stick with the information from sources that Pompey – a respected and connected reporter in the hoop world of Philadelphia, where Lowry clearly has many connections – actually reported. The Raptors might consider trading Lowry, which is hardly even news given the situation, and if they do, the Sixers, Clippers and Heat have become potential partners with Philly being somewhere Lowry would like to meet “if” this all pays off.
By the way of the agent’s speech, let’s talk about basketball here. If a trade were to go down, from the Sixers’ perspective, Lowry makes perfect sense. More 3-point shooting and a perimeter playmaker are their two biggest holes, and maybe the only ones.
To grow the money, while presumably removing Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, and Seth Curry (who is too valuable as a shooter to give up) from the table, Philly would have to start any trade with Danny Green and Mike Scott. , who are both on expiring deals and earn $ 20 million combined. From there, Philadelphia could add Terrance Ferguson and rookie Tyrese Maxey, who would be the young asset Toronto is looking to acquire.
Whether the Raptors prefer Maxey or future draft picks, or both, as basic compensation for Lowry, the ingredients for a deal are there. As for the Clippers, Lou Williams and Patrick Patterson are on the cusp of expiration and could form the basis of the money, although more should be added. But the Clippers lack a young asset as attractive as Maxey, depending on what you think of Terance Mann. They should build the package around choices, but as a championship contender, those will be picks in the late 20s that have limited value.
Miami can make money work very easily. Either Meyers Leonard or Kelly Olynyk and Andre Iguodala (team option for 2021-22) do. As for the young active, there’s no way the Heat could trade Tyler Herro for Lowry. Duncan Robinson, perhaps, could be an option, or rookie big man Precious Achiuwa.
For me, the Heat can make the best offer with Robinson and a pick. But Maxey is really intriguing, and if Philly is where Lowry prefers to go if he is indeed traded, and it is true that Toronto will be wrong in doing good by Lowry (which there is every reason to believe that they will for a guy who had the kind of impact on their franchise that Lowry has, the Sixers certainly make a lot of sense.
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