It is an expected part of the news cycle: trade rumors come first, followed quickly by the official denial of that rumor. Sometimes, this denial is the truth, sometimes it is an effort to maintain the advantage in a negotiation.
Today came the report that Kyle Lowry is looking for in his hometown, Philadelphia, for a possible change of deadline, and the Raptors are willing to talk.
Not long after, Lowry’s agent Mark Bartelstein was on SiriusXM NBA Radio this afternoon with Justin Termine and Eddie Johnson.
“This is not true …” Bartelstein said. “I called Masai (Ujiri, president of Raptors) and Bobby (Webster, Raptors GM) and informed them that [report] it certainly didn’t come from us …
“Communication is great (between Lowry and the Raptors) … his focus is on playing for the Raptors, winning and helping his teammates and doing great things for the rest of the season.”
This is what an agent has to say, but it can also be true. Lowry may want to retire a Raptor.
Lowry’s trade speculation is flying through the league because he is in the final year of his contract – earning $ 30.5 million – and the Raptors need to make a decision: bring a center (Andre Drummond?) And other help to try to make one Deep playoff run this season, so try to sign Lowry again in the off season. Or change it now and focus on building the next generation of the team around Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet.
Ultimately, the Raptors should ask Lowry what he wanted. He is the face of the franchise, the greatest Raptor of all time, and whether he wants to stay or go, the Toronto front office will work with him to make that happen.
If Lowry wants to move on (and that’s a big ‘if’), it would make sense that he would be interested in a competitor in his hometown with the 76ers.
The challenge is that the $ 30.5 million salary, matching it without devastating the squad, is a challenge. Philly would be willing to send Danny Green and Seth Curry to make the deal work, sacrificing depth to get a championship-winning bidder at that moment? Is there another way of working on this exchange (perhaps with a third team) so that it makes sense for the sides?
We could speculate as much as we like, but Bartelstein is probably grounded in reality. “
“This is not true.”