As the NBA rumor mill continues to churn, it appears Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry may be the next domino to fall. According to an article by Bruce Arthur of the Toronto Star, Lowry is dissatisfied with his current franchise.
“Even if the organization did manage to make a deal for a big-time player, Kyle Lowry is a free agent, and multiple league sources say the all-star point guard has been grumbling about dissatisfaction with the Raptors for months,” Arthur wrote. “As of mid-May other teams were being told Lowry had ‘zero interest’ in returning to Toronto, even if the Raptors offered a maximum five-year deal. Which since the club had no intention of offering a five-year deal probably made Lowry’s declaration easier to make.”
The Raptors remain confident about their chances of bringing back top free agents Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet (via Twitter).
Lowry and Ibaka share an agent in ASM’s Andy Miller, and Miller met with the Raptors “late into the night” on Saturday morning after the free agent period opened, according to David Aldridge of TNT (Twitter link). While neither Lowry or Ibaka agreed to a deal following those meetings, the two sides remain in contact.
If the Raptors do lock up both Lowry and Ibaka to market-value deals, the team figures to go into luxury-tax territory for the first time. That could potentially be avoided by moving another player on a sizable contract – such as DeMarre Carroll or Jonas Valanciunas – but Toronto will likely wait on decisions from Lowry and Ibaka before considering how to address the rest of its roster.
The odds of the Raptors re-signing P.J. Tucker may not be quite as high, as the club is facing “competition” on the veteran forward, according to Grange. The Kings are said to be meeting with Tucker today, while the Timberwolves, Nuggets, Sixers, and Clippers have also been linked to him.
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Kyle Lowry Might Leave Raptors
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