Kyle Lowry plans to opt out of contract & resign with Raptors
By Brian Boake
Good news & bad news. Kyle Lowry wants to stay with the Raptors, as long as he gets a monster raise. Now what, Masai Ujiri?
The headline is not news to you and us here at Rapture Nation. We knew Kyle Lowry would opt out of the final year of his contract with the Toronto Raptors.
What’s pleasing is learning that Lowry plans to give our team the first crack at his services. He appears interested in following the path his close friend DeMar DeRozan trod this summer. DD made his position clear – he wouldn’t listen to other offers unless he felt insulted by what the Raptors came up with. Masai Ujiri had the right answers in terms of money and contract duration, and the deal was done.
Our staff writer Eduardo Razo has already published his thoughts. He’s in favour of not deciding anything immediately, a viewpoint I happen to share. Not surprisingly, Lowry doesn’t; he wants the deal consummated quickly.
Too bad, Kyle – the season needs to play out first.
Anyway, there are only 3 serious options in this situation: (1) give Lowry what he wants, (2) low-ball him and have him walk for no return, or (3) trade him.
I’ve already written of my opposition to giving Lowry max money, so I won’t repeat myself here. That leaves options (2) and (3).
The best of bad choices
We shouldn’t assume option (2) is the worst of all worlds. I don’t want Lowry to depart, but if he did, there certainly would be a significant amount of money available to bring in help. The Raptors made two first-round selections in June, and have two more pending (their own and the Clippers) in 2017. That’s a lot of kids who grow up fast and want their turn at the pay window. Could the Raptors compete using a point guard rotation of Cory Joseph, Delon Wright and Fred VanVleet? I don’t know, but if Kyle pops a hamstring or some such, we might find out.
Oddly enough, the bigger problem with (2) might be the optics. An attitude of “same old Raptors, can’t keep their best players” combined with a disgruntled DeMar DeRozan (“Why did you let my buddy walk?”) could be toxic. We don’t want top-rank free agents to shun our team.
That leaves a trade. I’ve written in the past that trading players who are on a bargain contract (and once again I concur with Eduardo – by NBA standards, Kyle is underpaid) rarely pays off. You’re not getting quality back. A couple of quick examples: our man could be traded straight up for the Hornets’ Kemba Walker, or we could get Rudy Gay back from Sacramento (yippee!). Charlotte isn’t trading Walker (he might be a better bargain than Lowry) and there’s no chance of Rudy’s return.
Highly unlikely…
There is the rarely used sign-&-trade option. Those deals are fiendishly difficult to put together and are all but extinct. Here’s one that works in theory: Lowry signs for $27 million a season, then is moved to the Denver Nuggets for Danilo Gallinari and Kenneth Faried. Yes, the Raptors are still on the hook for $27M, but other options present themselves with those two on board. For example, both Patrick Patterson and Jared Sullinger could be let go. They are redundant with the ex-Nuggets in house, and are on expiring contracts. Presto – you’ve just saved nearly $12M in cap space for 2017-18. Whether this a smart deal on the floor is debatable.
As I reread what I’ve written, one conclusion is inescapable: there’s no easy answer at hand. Any thoughts, Rapture Nation?