The Raptors need to keep Kyle Lowry around and ignore the trade rumors

Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors are a .500 team once again. Masai Ujiri and Nick Nurse’s team is finally looking like the winning team that they should’ve been, unlike the 2-8 team who looked dead on arrival. Since the 2-8 start, Toronto has rocketed firmly into the playoff picture.

They are winning again despite Lowry missing five straight games due to a thumb injury. There is no doubt that Lowry is the franchise player, but now that they’re winning without him, should he and the Raptors move on. Should the Toronto Raptors trade Lowry?

Even though the Raptors are currently sitting at the fifth seed without Lowry, Toronto should keep him on the team rather than moving him at the trade deadline. as doing so could have some serious ripple effects that will make it difficult for the Raptors to do much of anything as the postseason draws near.

Lowry is still important to this team. It doesn’t help that they are 6-1 without him. However, with him in the lineup, not only they’ll still be a .500 team, but they will far exceed those expectations.

The Toronto Raptors are better off with Kyle Lowry

Now that the Raptors got their confidence and groove back, they still need Lowry to sustain yhis uptick in production. At the beginning of the season, only Chris Boucher and Fred VanVleet seemed to be putting up numbers. Lowry provided a stabilizing force that only a veteran with his talent and experience can provide, and that is an irreplaceable trait.

As the season progressed, all of the core players started playing well again. Lowry has this amazing ability in his game to get guys who on a roll right now playing more efficiently, all the while putting up some impressive numbers on both ends of the floor. Lowry’s experience will help this team to get in the playoffs.

Is there a case for the Toronto Raptors to trade Kyle Lowry?

There is a case to be made regarding trading Lowry. He’s currently 34 years old and in the final year of his current contract. He’s making $30 million this season.

Depending on how much money Ujiri and GM Bobby Webster are willing to spend, Lowry could leave Toronto. No one knows how much longer Lowry can play at this high level in the NBA, and that ambiguity might make it tough to spend a lot to keep him. He might not want to be back, as the Raptors are not anywhere close to being a championship-contending team in the East.

With that being said, the Toronto Raptors should keep Lowry this season and make a play to keep him in 2021. His ability to put the ball in the basket, lock up on the perimeter, and distribute the ball remains impeccable.

The Raptors can’t trade Kyle Lowry to the 76ers

There was a trade rumor a couple of days ago that involved Lowry going to the Philadelphia 76ers. It makes sense for the 76ers, as they could use a veteran guard like Lowry to handle the responsibility of Ben Simmons whenever Simmons is on the bench.

The assets that we get for Lowry might include Danny Green, Shake Milton, and Matisse Thybulle. Thybulle and Milton would be great pieces to this Raptors team, and Green would be a nice addition. However, trading Lowry, a Philly native, back home might not give the Raptors a quality return.

But I would not do a Lowry trade because the Raptors don’t need them. They need a center. The 76ers do not have a good center to trade for Lowry except for Joel Embiid. And there’s no way Philly are trading Embiid for Lowry. Lowry is more important to Toronto than Milton and Thybulle could do here.

Lowry is still important to this franchise. Despite Toronto winning six of the seven games that Lowry didn’t play in, he is one of the reasons why the Raptors went 14-8 after their 2-8 start. And whether he plays one more season after this year or three more seasons, Ujiri needs to do whatever it takes to keep him in red and black.