When the Raptors signed Kyle Lowry for a one-year, $ 30 million extension after the 2019 NBA championship, speculation immediately began to see whether this was a contract designed to make Lowry a more attractive commercial target, as he would be under control of the team until 2021 season.
Here we are in the 2021 season.
The Raptors stayed with Lowry last season and were once again a high ranking team. This season has not gone so well. The Raptors got off to a tricky start and came into play on Thursday with a 16-17 record, good enough for the current fifth place in the Eastern Conference, but far from a significant dispute.
There is an argument that Toronto could look like a buyer on the deadline and add a piece to another potential playoff run, but with Lowry scheduled to turn 35 in March and in an expiring deal, the Raptors may also be inclined to serve of the Lowry business while they are ahead. Instead of facing the dilemma of firing him this summer or losing him for nothing, the Raptors could trade the franchise’s icon while its value remains relatively high.
The latter scenario makes a lot of sense so that rumors about Lowry’s trade don’t start to surface at this point in the calendar. On Friday night, Lowry’s agent Mark Bartelstein went to SiriusXM Radio and proclaimed the Philadelphia Inquirer report earlier in the day that a potential Lowry deal was being prepared between Toronto and the Sixers to be just that, a rumor , and an unfounded one in which.
“Many of the rumors and things that are written about are just … are just rumors and were created for people to click on the article … It happened today with Kyle Lowry. It was a story today that he is wanting to go to Philadelphia. That’s not true. This story came out today, so I had to call [Raptors president] Masai [Ujiri] and [general manager] Bobby [Webster] and make sure that they knew it certainly didn’t come from us. “
So let’s start with the obvious here: a lot of the sports news you read or hear comes from agents. They absolutely want certain things printed and commented on. It stands to reason, too, that there are certain things they don’t want to talk about, at least not at certain points in an argument. Either way, your motivation is always to create an advantage for your customer.
Now, on to the actual report, which came from Keith Pompeu, a reliable reporter. Nowhere in his article did Pompey write that Lowry was, or is, “pushing to go to Philadelphia,” as Bartelstein suggested. Below 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 owner of Philly and the Toronto Raptors, however, is the Los Angeles Clippers.
According to sources, these three teams could become potential commercial destinations for the former standout of Cardinal Dougherty High School and Villanova. That, of course, if Lowry chooses not to end the season with the Raptors.
A source said Lowry would like to be in Philadelphia. The source believes the Sixers and Raptors may be able to do something. But if it gets to that point, Toronto will probably want some choices, young players and veterans with contracts winning for Lowry, who is winning $ 30 million this season.
Lowry “would” be a perfect fit for the 76ers. This is true. Lowry would also make sense for the Heat and Clippers. Truth. These teams “could” become potential commercial destinations for Lowry “if” he doesn’t stay in Toronto. Finally, Lowry “would like to be in Philadelphia” and the Sixers and Raptors “may be able to do something”.
The only part of this that could, perhaps, be interpreted as Lowry pushing for an exchange with the Sixers is Pompey declaring that Lowry would like to be in Philadelphia. He is not saying that Lowry is pushing for this. What he is saying is that “if” Lowry left Toronto, which, incidentally, is something that could benefit the Raptors as much as Lowry, obviously Philadelphia would be a desirable landing point. It’s your hometown.
Pompey ended his report by saying that the Raptors “want to reward Lowry for his years of service, helping him secure an opportunity to win another NBA title.” That, to me, sounds more like the Raptors wanting to trade Lowry than Lowry being the one who presses for anything, just with the caveat that they will, or want to, give their franchise icon the honor of not sending him to somewhere he doesn’t. I do not want to go.
It is very reasonable, then, that all this is being said behind closed doors and, to Bartelstein’s taste, it was too early in the process for something to become public. There are hundreds of ways in which this can hinder leverage in one way or another. It may simply be about an agent not wanting his client to be negatively painted as a guy who is demanding an exchange, although that is the furthest thing from what Pompey reported.
Once again, let’s stick with the source information that Pompey – a respected and plugged reporter in the world of the Philadelphia hoops, where Lowry clearly has many connections – actually reported. Raptors can consider the Lowry switch, which is hardly new given the situation, and if they do, the Sixers, Clippers and Heat have emerged as potential partners, with Philly being somewhere that Lowry would like to end “if” some of these come to fruition.
Going through the agent’s speech, let’s talk about basketball here. If a deal goes down, from the Sixers’ point of view, Lowry makes perfect sense. Most 3-point shots and a perimeter crack are your two biggest, and perhaps only, holes.
To make the money work, while presumably taking Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris and Seth Curry (who is very valuable as a sniper to quit) from the table, Philly would have to start any commercial package with Danny Green and Mike Scott, who are in agreements that are expiring and earn $ 20 million combined. From there, Philadelphia could add Terrance Ferguson and newcomer Tyrese Maxey, who would be the active young man Toronto is looking to acquire.
Whether the Raptors prefer Maxey or future draft choices, or both, as the main compensation for Lowry, the deal is there. As for the Clippers, Lou Williams and Patrick Patterson are in deals that are expiring and could be the basis of the money, although more should be added. But the Clippers lack an active young man as attractive as Maxey, depending on what you think of Terance Mann. They would have to build the package around choices, but as a championship contender, those will be choices in the late 1920s that have a certain value.
Miami can make money work very easily. Both Meyers Leonard and Kelly Olynyk and Andre Iguodala (team option for 2021-22) do this. As for the active youth, there was no way the Heat would trade Tyler Herro for Lowry. Duncan Robinson, perhaps, could be an option, or the great newcomer Precious Achiuwa.
For me, Heat can make the best offer with Robinson and a choice. But Maxey is really intriguing, and if Philly is where Lowry prefers to go if he’s actually traded, and it’s true that Toronto will be wrong in doing the right thing for Lowry (which there’s every reason to believe they’ll do for a guy who had the kind of impact on your franchise that Lowry had), the Sixers certainly make a lot of sense.