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Toronto Raptors: Predicting Kyle Lowry’s next contract and future team

By Geethan Viswathasan

Kyle Lowry brought the Championship to the North. (Photo by Rey Josue II/NBAE via Getty Images)
Kyle Lowry brought the Championship to the North. (Photo by Rey Josue II/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Toronto Raptors
Toronto Raptors – Kyle Lowry (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images) /

The case for a sizeable but reasonable contract

While Lowry will not command his current $30 Million pay-grade in his age 33 and 34 seasons, it could be reasonable to see him sign a contract financially compared to Jrue Holiday’s current $26 million contract, or perhaps just a hair lower.

Holiday ranks right below Lowry in terms of RPM and has a comparable shooting efficiency (Holiday posted a 52.3-percent EFG%. Lowry finished at 51.8-percent last year). Holiday, however, is a couple of years younger.

With the salary cap expected to rise to $116 Million for the 2020-2021 season, paying your starting point guard approximately 22-percent of the cap on a short-term deal is a bargain.

Given the Raptors open books beyond this season, they have the flexibility to build around Lowry as the lead guard and cornerstone Pascal Siakam (Projected to command close to the max) as a dynamic forward.

In contrast, if there is a desire within the front office to bring back Serge Ibaka, Marc Gasol, and Fred VanVleet, paying Kyle Lowry upwards of $20 Million is not feasible. Furthermore, given Masai’s business savvy, the franchise will not likely commit long-term to a core that is not a true title contender. When coming on board in 2013, Masai had grand visions of a scorched-earth rebuild, and delaying that to make Kyle’s retirement comfortable isn’t good asset-management.

When it comes to taking a pay-cut to play for a team, any player not named Dirk Nowitzki would choose to do so only with a shot at the NBA Finals. The Raptor’s long-term roster — while containing a few solid pieces in Siakam and Anunoby — doesn’t guarantee title contention.

If Toronto wants to keep Lowry, they’ll likely need to pay him. Otherwise, he could explore his options.