Kyle Lowry is the greatest Toronto Raptor of all time, he committed to Toronto when given the opportunity and delivered the NBA’s highest prize, a championship. Number 7 will hang in the rafters of Scotiabank Arena one day. However, the Raptors have lost 9 in a row and just got blown out by the Houston Rockets, who had lost their 20 previous games. Also Lowry will become a free agent this summer. The Toronto Raptors may have entered a position where they might be forced to trade the greatest player in franchise history, something I never thought would happen.
Kyle Lowry won a championship with the Raptors. He is a guy who has hit big shots throughout his career in Toronto. He was acquired on July 11th, 2012 from the Houston Rockets in exchange for Gary Forbes and a 2013 first round pick. Forbes played just two NBA seasons and never played a regular season game for Houston, and the pick was later traded to the Thunder as a part of the James Harden package that sent Harden to Houston. Pairing with DeMar DeRozan, the Raptors became an Eastern Conference contender, however they just could not get past LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. This led to the Raptors dealing DeRozan along with Jakob Poeltl and a 1st round pick to the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. It paid off in the form of a championship. Lowry was a huge part of it, scoring 26 points to go along with 10 assists and 7 rebounds in the title clinching game against the Golden State Warriors. Kyle Lowry has averaged 17.6 points, 7.1 assists, and 4.9 rebounds during his career as a Raptor. In 84 playoff games, Lowry averaged 17.1 points, 6.3 assists, and 4.8 rebounds. Last season, he paired with Fred VanVleet in the backcourt leading Toronto to second in the Eastern Conference and came within one game of the Eastern Conference Finals, losing to the Boston Celtics, after losing Leonard in free agency. However, this season Toronto has not been as good and is 11th in the East at 17-26, leading to a trade being a possibility.
Kyle Lowry will not be bought out. He is too good to be bought out. There are plenty of teams that would be interested in Lowry, via a trade. For example, the Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers are two teams that could be suitors for the guard. Lowry is averaging 17.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.6 assists on 43% shooting from the field and 39% from 3 point range. He is a guy who has proven in the biggest of moments he can deliver a big play. The team that I look at are the Philadelphia 76ers. He is from Philly and is the kind of big shot player the Sixers need. A trade would have many moving parts and might include a third team. However, if it did not, Philly could send ex-Raptor Danny Green along with Seth Curry and Mike Scott to make the deal work salary wise and then add young players like Tyrese Maxey or Matisse Thybulle and draft picks for Toronto. For the 76ers it would immediately boost their title chances and bring home a Philadelphia native. It gives them a guy who has performed in the biggest of moments and as I have stated is a world champion. For the Raptors it allows them to start their retool around guys like Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, and OG Anunoby. It restocks draft picks to a team that develops young players very well and gives them one or two very talented young players. It also adds a very good sharpshooter that is on a very team friendly contract in Seth Curry that the Raptors can keep or use as a trade asset. Other teams would be options as well as Lowry would have a very strong market but with Lowry from Philly, the Sixers seem to be the favorite.
Kyle Lowry in a different uniform would be weird and frankly sad. Lowry has given his heart and soul to the city of Toronto and for his last game in Canada to have been over a year ago makes it hurt even more. However, with the Raptors struggling the way they are a trade is very possible. Kyle Lowry is a big time player who has made a lot of big plays during his career and any team would be better for having number 7 on their team. It might hurt the Raptors organization and Lowry a lot but a deal might be what is best for both sides.
Comments