Stay or go? Soon-to-be free agent Lowry mum on future with Raptors

TORONTO — No matter how the question was posed, Kyle Lowry wouldn’t bite.

The Toronto Raptors point guard will opt out of the final year of his contract and become a free agent, and a lucrative deal beckons.

But less than 24 hours after the Raptors’ season ended in a fourgame sweep by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Lowry gave no hints about his intentions.

“Honestly man, I want to just get better, I want to have fun, I want to win a ring. I want to make sure my family is happy,” said Lowry, a father of two young boys. “And that’s all I’ve thought about right now.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t BS you guys. I would, but not this time. Not this time.”

The Raptors met with the media on their traditional postseason locker cleanout day. Hopes for the season had been high after their historic post-season run a year ago. But they collided with Cleveland earlier than expected, and the mood around their training facility Monday was one of unrealized goals.

Now Toronto heads into an offseason of uncertainty, with questions not only about the future of Lowry, but coach Dwane Casey and free agents Serge Ibaka, P.J. Tucker and Patrick Patterson.

When asked to assess his performance on the season, Casey said “could have done better. I always feel that way.”

He singled out his players’ confidence in three-point shooting, plus defensive areas such as shot challenges and rotations.

“There’s always areas in our team, in our play, that I feel like I can do a better job, our staff, we all can do better,” Casey said. “There’s nothing we can be satisfied about, with our job performance, especially after the way we went out. Even the season, there were times we could have been better defensively, better offensively, definitely, and adapting to the new age NBA, which is the three [pointer].”

A year after all-star DeMar DeRozan, who was facing free agency, made his intentions about staying in Toronto crystal clear, Lowry had some fun verbally sparring with reporters, who asked several times about his intentions.

“You know what? That’s a good question. Haven’t thought about it though,” he said with a wry smile. “I’ve said that three times already. Four. That’ll be my fourth time. I’m going to say it one more time. Only thing I’ve thought about is opting out.”