The Toronto Raptors are gearing up for a cast transformation in the NBA’s negotiating deadline on Thursday, engaging in negotiations on multiple fronts focused on separate deals for the six All-Star players Kyle Lowry and Norman Powell, they said. sources to ESPN.
In the last year of his contract, Lowry’s chances of leaving Toronto for an operation are gaining momentum. Powell’s future has become much less about whether he will be moved, but that between a dozen or more suitors will acquire him.
The Raptors – losers for nine in a row, dropping to 11th at the Eastern Conference – will have further negotiations on Wednesday, with the Eastern trade deadline approaching 3pm on Thursday.
Philadelphia and Miami involved Toronto in Lowry, and league sources say there are several other teams in the East and West Conferences, giving Toronto President Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster reason to weigh the possibility of accepting the return of future assets instead of leaning into Lowry for a final run in the playoffs.
Lowry, who turns 35 on Thursday, grew up in Philadelphia, throwing his ball at college in Villanova. An exchange with the Sixers would represent a return home, but Lowry has an open mind about a number of potential destinations, the sources said. Lowry has no veto power over a negotiation, but the Raptors’ management is taking Lowry’s wishes into account, given his monumental role in the franchise’s rise to a perennial playoff dispute, a 2019 NBA Championship and its place in the sporting tradition. Canadian.
Lowry, who earns $ 30.5 million this season, will seek a new off-season contract.
Philadelphia discussed separate deals with Toronto at Lowry and Powell, the sources said. The Sixers also asked about other guards available on the market, including George Hill of Oklahoma City and Lonzo Ball of New Orleans, the sources said.
By moving Lowry and Powell, the Raptors would expedite a reconstruction built around three young players in whom they invested with long-term contracts: guards Fred VanVleet and strikers Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby.
The Raptors were wiped out with COVID problems and injuries, dropping to 17-26 overall, 11th in the Eastern Conference. The franchise’s escalation back to the playoffs scene is quite steep, especially in a season when the team is playing outside Canada in Tampa, Florida.
Powell, 27, had his best NBA season, averaging 19.7 points and shooting 43 percent on three points. He is expected to turn down the $ 11.6 million option in his 2021-2022 season contract and become a free agent this summer. The teams that negotiate for him prefer to find a way to hire him for a new contract, and not give up assets to simply rent him out for the rest of the season.
Raptors have a number of ways to go with the Powell switch – a series of combinations of young players, draft choices and expired contracts – that will give Toronto options.