Toronto Raptors: 3 Reasons to Trade and 3 Reasons to Keep Kyle Lowry
By Hani Salehi
Reason to Trade: Reward Kyle for his Service
The final reason the Raptors should consider trading Kyle Lowry is to reward him for being an amazing player for the organization. Let’s face it with Giannis now staying in Milwaukee and the 2021 free-agent class getting significantly weaker the chances for the Raptors to get a win-now player is pretty low at the moment.
With that being said, Kyle Lowry is a winning player and as mentioned earlier there are going to be plenty of teams interested in acquiring his services. Thus if the Raptors are going to be taking a step back or two for the next couple of seasons, it makes sense to trade Lowry away to a championship-contending team to reward him for what he has done for the organization during his tenure.
For instance teams like the Los Angeles Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets, and the Philadelphia 76ers would greatly benefit from getting a player like Lowry. This would also allow Lowry to win another championship before the end of his career.
Although this reason hurts the most for Raptor fans, it’s also the most appropriate way to reward a player that has truly changed the culture and fortune of the organization.
Reason to Keep: Run it Back
The final reason the Raptors should consider keeping Kyle Lowry is to potentially create another championship team around him. As amazing as the 2019 championship was the Raptors would not have won without Kyle Lowry. Not to mention Kyle has shown that he is getting better with age which means he is still a productive player now with championship experience.
Also with the Raptors having so much flexibility moving forward any star player they acquire will be even better next to Kyle Lowry. A perfect example would be if the Raptors traded for or signed Victor Oladipo a lineup of Oladipo, Lowry, VanVleet, Annunoby, and Siakam would be an amazing combination versus without Lowry.
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Therefore the Toronto Raptors should keep Kyle Lowry and continue to retool and surround him with quality players who can help the Raptors compete for a championship once again.