Lowry, Ibaka staying with Raps
Toronto sticking mostly to status quo this off-season,
The Toronto Raptors will push forward with Kyle Lowry.
The man responsible more than anybody else for powering Toronto’s unexpected rise from laughingstock to a perennial home-court playoff team has agreed in principle to a threeyear, US$100-million deal.
“For me, at the end of the day, this was an easy decision. And all of those roads … they all led me back to the same place: home. They all led me back to Toronto,” Lowry said on The Players’ Tribune website.
The Philadelphia native is a monster in advanced stats as the franchise leader in value over replacement player, box plusminus and win shares per 48 minutes. Lowry ranks third in win shares and player-efficiency rating and second in steals per game.
In other words, he has been incredible as a Raptor during regular season play, far exceeding even the highest of expectations from when he was originally acquired from the Houston Rockets by Bryan Colangelo.
Later, Lowry was nearly dealt to the New York Knicks by Masai Ujiri shortly after his friend Rudy Gay was shipped out to Sacramento. He re-signed with the club three years ago after leading it back to the playoffs for the first time in years.
With a couple of exceptions, Lowry has not been close to the same dominant force in the postseason. Injuries have held him back. That’s where the three-year term plays into Toronto’s favour. Lowry had hoped for a five-year deal, but the point guard market cratered and his age and injury history likely also came into play. Toronto preferred the flexibility of three years over four at a lower annual salary and a compromise was reached.
With Serge Ibaka also agreeing to a three-year deal for US$65 million, the Raptors will finally get to really see how Lowry and Ibaka pair together. Lowry’s injury came right around when Ibaka was acquired and then Ibaka hurt his ankle in the playoffs, meaning they were never together with both at full strength.
Ujiri and his staff will now have to pare salary to avoid the luxury tax and open up room to use the mid-level exception to make sure the squad stays competitive. The Raps have tried to get rid of DeMarre Carroll’s contract. Cory Joseph has also been offered, but he doesn’t make as much as Jonas Valanciunas or Carroll.
If Valanciunas does get traded, it’s unclear who would replace Ibaka at power forward. P.J. Tucker signed with Houston instead of coming back, Patrick Patterson is expected to sign elsewhere, Pascal Siakam is not yet ready for that kind of a role and Jakob Poeltl and Lucas Nogueira are centres. Rookie OG Anunoby will play power forward down the line, but he might not be healthy enough to play until November.