— Kyle Lowry (@Klow7) August 2, 2021
Scottie Barnes chilling with Drake. Jalen Suggs chilling with Mickey Mouse. Who really won.
— Sham (@shamwow712) August 2, 2021
Kyle Lowry’s departure for Miami has Raptors looking for a new identity – The Athletic
He no longer will define the franchise, which is part of the point. Lowry is headed to Miami, which always seemed like the most likely destination because of the presence of his friend Jimmy Butler, the weather and the lack of income tax, in a sign-and-trade deal. The details of the deal are not known yet, but veteran guard Goran Dragic and second-year centre Precious Achiuwa will likely be coming back to Toronto, with the Raptors likely to find a way to re-route Dragic. The reality is as so long as Lowry was in Toronto, he would be the personification of the franchise. That is not a bad thing, quite obviously, but it was going to stand in the way of getting a full view of the pieces around him.
It purposely leaves the Raptors wanting an identity, which is a blessing and a curse. Lowry served as a one-man floor raiser for so many editions of the team that surpassed their predicted win total. That was great when competing for a top seed in the Eastern Conference and making deep runs into playoffs were realistic goals, but it becomes more complicated, even confusing when Lowry is no longer quite at his peak level, and the Raptors have to properly assess a roster that is heavy on high-end supporting pieces and low on obvious franchise foundations.
That isn’t to say they don’t have some keepers. However, removing Lowry, the human safety net, allows the Raptors to see those core pieces, ranging from Pascal Siakam, who turns 28 in January, to Scottie Barnes, who turned 20 on Sunday, in full. Fred VanVleet is the natural recipient of the baton — even with Lowry, he had turned into the co-leader of the team — but the vibe will be very different without Lowry.
The questions are numerous, and it’s hard to say which one is most important.
• Can VanVleet excel as the lead decision-maker in the backcourt when he has struggled with his efficiency in the paint, and so much of his value comes from playing off the ball?
• Can Siakam put a poor year, on the court with his offence and off the court as he struggled with the pandemic and clashed with the coaching staff, behind him and become a louder voice in the locker room?
• Can OG Anunoby continue to add to his game as a perimeter-based creator?
• Can Gary Trent Jr., who is staying with the Raptors as a restricted free agent on a reported three-year deal, fit in better with the Raptors than he did in his first two months with the team?
• How long of a runway will Barnes require offensively, and how will Nick Nurse fit him in as he learns?
• Speaking of Nurse, how will he coax even an average half-court offence with his highest usage players all having some obvious flaw in their games?
• As for Masai Ujiri and the front office, how will they fill out the rest of the roster using the resources they have, of which the full midlevel exception, starting around $9.5 million, is likely to be the most valuable? The Raptors could go after a big man or a guard to complement VanVleet and Trent and they wouldn’t be necessarily wrong. After last season, centre seems like the more pressing need.
Hot Commodity: Kyle Lowry Is the Player That Miami Needs – The Ringer
At the trade deadline last season, the Raptors were working to send Lowry and his expiring contract to a team that could contend for a championship. His departure felt all but imminent, so much so that after blowing out the Nuggets in what could have been his last game in a Raptors uniform, he was feeling nostalgic enough to not, in his words, “bullshit” reporters after the game.
“I was literally trying to figure out who I was,” Lowry said about the version of himself that arrived in Toronto. “Now it’s like, how do I help everyone else? I’m not looking to just help me. I’m good. I wanna help everybody else. That’s the maturation of what I feel like I’ve become. I wanna help the world, and I can help the world because I’ve been through so many experiences: the good, the bad, the highs and lows, and I know I can help anybody.”
He has become exactly who Miami needs: a buttoned-up professional with thousands of reps running a high-level NBA offense, a veteran who has also found joy in shepherding young players. He can rip off double handoffs with Bam Adebayo and hit precise pull-ups. If Tyler Herro is anxious to make a shot, he can set him up on the court and pull him aside off it.
Lowry spent so much of his Raptors tenure on the trade block that, at times, it felt like they just didn’t believe he could get them where he needed to go. But it was also an affirmation of his value, a stubborn insistence that he was worth more than what rival executives thought of him. “I hope I’m pardoned if I valued him too much,” Ujiri said after the deadline, admitting the Raptors were extremely biased when it came to Lowry. In hindsight, they had it right all along.
Kyle Lowry, Raptors part ways after helping each other reach new heights – Sportsnet
The Miami Heat will pay mightily for the privilege, having signed Lowry to a reported three-year, fully guaranteed contract that will pay him $90 million through to his 18th NBA season, when Lowry will be 38-years-old.
It’s unwise to bet against Lowry providing value on the deal. In NBA terms the six-time all-star and advanced stats darling has out-earned every contract he’s ever signed.
But the Heat are expecting Lowry to team with Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Duncan Robinson and the rest to help them win an NBA title. If he can deliver on that, no amount of money will have been poorly spent.
Meanwhile, the Raptors are trying to reset their trajectory around a younger core that they felt couldn’t completely reach their potential with Lowry as the perpetual big brother — or at least, they didn’t want to pay him $90 million to find out.
The Raptors know what they’ll be missing. It’s why team president Masai Ujiri couldn’t pull the trigger on what he deemed sub-par offers for Lowry at the trade deadline back on March 25.
“We’re going to be biased in some kind of way, you always are with your players but for Kyle we’re extremely, extremely biased because of what he does and what he stands for,” Ujiri said then. “…Kyle has grown in our organization and has become such an unbelievable person, player and he signifies a symbol of what you want in an athlete, going to compete every day.
“When you look at what’s out there, it’s difficult sometimes, even for those [other] teams, to see his value.”
The Raptors chose to find value elsewhere on a frenetic opening few hours of free agency.
Having drafted 20-year-old Scottie Barnes fourth overall last Thursday, their first move in free agency was to sign 22-year-old Gary Trent Jr. to a three-year deal for $54 million with the last year a player option, as confirmed to Sportsnet by his agent, Rich Paul, on Monday night.
After the Lowry deal with Miami was announced a waiting game followed. It was expected that the sign-and-trade agreement would centre on Goran Dragic — another quality veteran point guard — and second-year big man Precious Achuiwa.
According to sources Dragic was hoping to be re-routed to the Dallas Mavericks though what the Raptors were seeking in return wasn’t clear. Canadian big man Dwight Powell might seem like a fit and, according to a source, he’s open to such a move. “Why not, it’s home,” I was told.
But no one can fully replace Lowry. He’s provided memories no one will ever surpass. He helped lift a team from irrelevance to championship; from the NBA wilderness to seven consecutive playoff appearances and routine seasons where 50-something wins were the minimum.
What the Raptors look like and feel like from here could easily shape the next five or 10 years.
Kyle Lowry to join Miami Heat but leave lasting legacy with Toronto Raptors behind – TSN.ca
Lowry is still a productive player, but at 35 his competitive window is shrinking. Meanwhile, the Raptors have gone younger and are looking further ahead to the future. For the first time in ages, their short-term goals no longer align.
But for all the club records he set and all the firsts he achieved, it’s only fitting that he add one more on his way out: Lowry is the Raptors’ first ever amicable breakup.
In the 25-plus year history of the franchise, they’ve never had a star leave on good terms with both the organization and the fan base. Rightly or wrongly, Damon Stoudamire, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter and Chris Bosh were booed for years after engineering their exits. DeMar DeRozan felt betrayed by the team following his trade to San Antonio. Even Kawhi Leonard, who delivered a championship in his lone season with Toronto, rubbed the front office and some fans the wrong way with the perception that he used them as leverage in free agency.
This time there are no hurt feelings, zero animosity or bitterness from either side. The legacy that Lowry leaves behind is forever.
When Masai Ujiri challenged him to figure out what he wanted from basketball all those years ago, he sparked something in the ornery guard. It was always there. It just needed a push. And so he channelled all of his best and worst qualities into becoming the greatest version of himself, and as he did, the team began to take on his identity.
Seven straight playoff appearances. Nine post-season series wins. An NBA championship. There are a lot of people responsible for the most successful era in Raptors franchise history, but none more than Lowry. He was their engine. He was their heart and soul.
He was also, occasionally, a pain in the neck. Admittedly, he rarely saw eye-to-eye with Dwane Casey. He would often go weeks at a time without speaking to various members of the media for writing something he disagreed with. He gave Ujiri the cold shoulder for half a season after his best friend, DeRozan, was traded. He wasn’t always the easiest to deal with but that’s part of his charm, and perhaps the best way to explain his transformation into one of the league’s unlikeliest stars. He was too stubborn to settle for anything less.
“My one comment that I always make, that I think is the highest compliment I give him, is he plays harder than anybody I’ve ever seen,” Nick Nurse said ahead of the trade deadline. “On the court coaching, or coaching against, or watching games or anything, he plays harder than anybody I’ve ever seen, I can’t give him a higher compliment than that.”
There are still some people that don’t get or fully appreciate Lowry’s game, which is something that used to infuriate him. With age and all of his success, he’s come to accept it. He’s embraced it, in fact. It works for him. He’s still defiant, but his gripes are less frequent and he holds fewer grudges these days. He’s comfortable with where he’s at in this stage of his life, but he’s also never lost that edge. It’s what defines him.
“I grew from an immature kid trying to find his way,” Lowry said back in March. “From ‘Why is everybody this, that and the other,’ to ‘Man, how do I help this young guy, how do I help this guy get paid, how do I help give my knowledge?’… I was literally trying to figure out who I was, I always knew my niche was to play hard, but for me, now it’s like how do I help everyone else?
Report: Toronto Raptors Kyle Lowry to sign with – Raptors HQ
In a way, Lowry leaving the Raptors now feels a touch anti-climactic; after all, we were all set to say goodbye at last season’s trade deadline, especially after he torched the Denver Nuggets on deadline eve in what seemed like a farewell game. But the right offer never came, and Lowry stuck around for a few more games, including an absolute gem against the Los Angeles Lakers — a Raptors win in which Lowry dropped 37 points on 20 shots, drained eight three-pointers and dished out 11 assists.
Lowry, 35, has spent the past nine seasons with the Raptors, racking up all kinds of statistical feats, records and highlights. He re-signed with Toronto twice, and added an extension to his deal in 2019. He’s a six-time All-Star, made all-NBA in 2016 and he’s the franchise leader in assists, steals, 3-pointers made, and triple doubles (he’s also second in points, games and minutes, and third in rebounds). If you wanna look at the advanced numbers, he’s number one in total win shares (and both offensive and defensive win shares) and value over replacement player, and second in box plus-minus. He holds pretty much every franchise playoff record, including wins — and of course, he helped lead the team to its only title in 2019.
There isn’t really an argument anymore that Lowry is the greatest Raptor of all time — he just is — and someday he’ll have his jersey retired and a statue built in his honour.
We’ll have much more analysis, including details on the sign-and-trade, to come. And yes: we’ll surely have some eulogies, too. For now, I hope everyone will join me in celebrating Lowry’s Raptors career, remembering the many, many highlights, and being happy for him that he’s getting paid and getting the chance to continue contributing to winning well into the twilight of his career.
Kyle Lowry is leaving the Raptors as the greatest player in franchise history | The Star
“I grew from an immature kid trying to find his way, from ‘why is everybody this, that and the other,’ to ‘man, how do I help this young guy, how do I help this guy get paid, how do I help give my knowledge of …’ How do I continue to help?’ I was literally trying to figure out who I was, I always knew my niche was to play hard but it’s also, for me, now it’s like how do I help everyone else?
“I’m not looking to just help me, I’m good. I want to help everybody else and help everybody continue to grow and that’s part of the maturation I feel like I’ve become, right, I’ve become a person that I want to help the world and I can help the world because I’ve been through so many experiences of the good, the bad, the highs, the lows, and I know I can help anybody and I’ve grown a lot. Simple answer.”
Oh, he could be a pain every now and then. He went months without speaking to Masai Ujiri after the Raptors president traded his pal DeRozan in 2018, and when a gaggle of writers arrived in Las Vegas that summer when Lowry was training with the American Olympic team, he refused to even entertain questions about the Kawhi Leonard-DeRozan transaction.
But as much a pain as he could be, that was also in an odd way part of his charm.
He is, was and always will be a bit of a contrarian and that’s fine; the world needs people who are bristling to balance out all the sweetness and light. “Kyle being Kyle” was just part and parcel of being around this team for the nine years it became his own.
On the court, he was something to behold.
He played hard every game, never giving an inch, never giving up, always willing to sacrifice his body to take a charge or sacrifice his stats to take a big shot. His body changed — he was rolly-polly at times, supremely fit at others — and his mentality did, too.
He seemed to have knack for doing whatever the situation called for, he sacrificed points and shots the entire season with Leonard until he unleashed a barrage in the first quarter of the championship-clinching Game 6 in Oakland when he truly put his stamp on that series by scoring the first 11 points of the game.
The raw statistics are impressive: first on the Raptors all-time in assists, steals, three-pointers made and attempted, second in games and minutes played. Yes, those numbers come with having been a franchise staple for almost a decade but they speak also to an on-court dominance over an extended period.
It’s more than numbers, though. Lowry grew as the franchise grew, he led it through an unprecedented era of success. It’s time-worn to talk about culture but, if there is such a thing, Lowry’s DNA is all over the Raptors
In that same March conversation around the trade deadline, Lowry was asked about a comment Nick Nurse made that Lowry was, is, the greatest player in franchise history.
“I don’t know, man, it’s a tough thing. I can’t comment on stuff like that, I’ll let you guys decide those things.”
It’s not a hard decision.
Yes. He is.
Lewenberg on Lowry’s departure: ‘it’s a day of mixed emotions for Raptors fans’ – Video – TSN
TSN’s Raptors reporter Josh Lewenberg joins Glenn Schiiler with his reactions on Kyle Lowry’s departure from the Raps and details how the Raptors’ timeline to rebuild young doesn’t quite sync up with Kyle Lowry’s timeline of hopefully winning another championship in the near future.
Lowry gave this place all of him. All of his very best. And to have an athlete like him, all heart and hustle and work, work, work as the city’s sporting heart meant something. Tough as old boots, bringing all of his North Philly f— you and putting his body on the line night after night. But he was a Rolls-Royce of a playmaker, too. Perseverance and pushing through, sure. But so much polished poise, too. It meant a hell of a lot.
Kyle Lowry has been the sporting face and heart of Toronto since write Joe Callaghan arrived in the city.
There are moments and memories and, with them, physical places that will be part of his lasting legacy here. Back around the trade deadline, Raptors HQ ran a superb March Madness-style bracket of Lowry’s best moments. It was fun to bring them all rushing back. But what it reinforced was that, after nine years here, his legacy both on and off the court simply cannot be defined by individual moments. After all, in Kyle Lowry’s Toronto, the collective always trumped the individual.Through the growing and the growing pains of the early years and the playoff agonies that seemed determined to define (and pretty much did) the Raptors of Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, to the championship glory of 2019 alongside Kawhi Leonard and these past two unorthodox, uprooted campaigns that took him away from us before he was truly taken away from us, the collective has been Lowry’s most consistent focus.
When the time came for the most individualistic Hollywood moment of all, it didn’t drop. With fractions of seconds left in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, Lowry, the face of the city had the shot to win it all in front of the city. He always said the ball felt good coming out of his hands but Draymond Green got a piece. And even if hindsight and the comfort now of knowing what was to come next tints our view, it nonetheless feels right that his career here wasn’t defined by a Hollywood moment. How could a guy who puts his body and face on the line planting his legs and his sturdy arse and drawing a zillion charges go the Hollywood route anyway?
Instead, the history and the glory and the gold was clinched in a truer Lowry fashion — sucking up that disappointment and unleashing all of the focused frustration on the Warriors in Game 6. Don’t poke the bear remember? Lowry came out and was bloody relentless. Within two minutes, he arrowed 11 points right down their guts and then marshalled it home. When the buzzer sounded, the cameras immediately focused on Leonard but the ball was in Lowry’s hands. Where it belonged.
SIMMONS: Departing Kyle Lowry leaves a lasting legacy on Toronto sports | Toronto Sun
“Sometimes you’d see his body language,” Ujiri told me years ago. “And I’d think ‘Why is he like that?’
“You would hear the stuff about him, about the coaches he doesn’t get along with and that kind of thing. So I flew to Philly and went to see him. We had lunch. I told him what I expected. I was going to give him a platform, a chance. That’s how it all started with him.”
Not long after that meeting, Ujiri tried to trade Lowry for the first of many times.
“I told Kyle, when (NBA) people talk about you, it’s not like they dissect your game or kill your game,” Ujiri said. “A lot of people who talk about you are talking about maybe the attitude or the problem with coaches — it’s always this part. It’s never the game.
“I said to him, ‘You’ve got to work on that. Why would you allow that part to stop you from getting where you want to go?’”
Ujiri told him to “take care of your future, money-wise. You can go from being a couple-of-million player to more money, a lot more money. There’s a lot of possibilities here.”
Lowry didn’t just take the advice. He has lived it.
As he prepares to leave the Raptors, he has career earnings of $199 million, an Olympic gold medal, and a Toronto championship ring.
He’ll probably have another $60 million or so waiting for him in Miami. More money than Ujiri ever imagined has come Lowry’s way and all of it just from being paid NBA going rates for his services.
“He’s our grit and our grind,” Dwane Casey once said of Lowry. And that was after they started getting along.
“I don’t think I’m a star,” Lowry told me once. “I can’t compare myself to Vince (Carter). I can’t compare myself to Bosh. I’m just a guy with a great group around me … personally, I’m just a guy who runs this team and is very passionate about winning. I want to get this organization and this city to the playoffs. I have some things I want to do. I want to do some damage in the playoffs. I don’t just want to get into the playoffs, I want to have some fun in the playoffs.”
Until Raptors president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster finish a transaction for a big man, their free-agent shopping and roster reconstruction is not over. They still have interest in Khem Birch, who finished the season in Toronto, and Freddy Gillespie, who will play for Toronto’s Summer League team starting this week.
Meanwhile, the Raptors are intrigued by the long-term potential of Trent and now have the time to see how he develops. Trent, a 22-year-old former second round draft pick, has agreed to a three-year, $54-million contact to stay with Toronto, solidifying one backcourt spot.
Gary Trent Jr., who agreed to a three-year, $54-million (U.S.) deal with the Raptors, will spend the off-season working on his ball-handling and one-on-one play.
The Raptors see Trent as an underdeveloped version of Norm Powell and will spend the off-season working on his ball-handling and one-on-one play so he can fit better into the team’s ball movement, read-and-react offence.
I’m airdropping $RAPS today to the first 20 guys who fill out this form.
