How Will Kyle Lowry Fit With the Heat?

Kyle Lowry was popular among Toronto fans for his hard-nosed style of play and boisterous leadership. Lowry was the team leader, the face of the franchise, and inspired his teammates with his dogged defensive effort. Toronto is currently trending downwards. Their hope for a championship is not likely in the next couple of seasons. Toronto decided to forego Lowry's final seasons. They traded him for Precious Achiuwa and Goran Dragic in an attempt to get younger.

How Does Lowry Fit In in Miami?

Kyle Lowry's aggressive defensive nature should fit in quite well on the Miami Heat. The Heat are led by Jimmy Butler, another player who loves to be active, aggressive, and vocal on the defensive end. Miami has built a team based on defense. When you combine Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo with Kyle Lowry, you have three of the fiercest competitors on the defensive end. Bam and Butler are versatile and while Lowry cannot switch onto forwards, he is one of the best defenders of guards in the league, even at his current age of 35.

Lowry should have no problems integrating into Heat culture. Miami prides itself on its conditioning, defensive intensity, and attention to detail. Lowry will replace Goran Dragic and Kendrick Nunn. Both players are explosive on offense but Lowry will be quite the upgrade on defense. Nunn is a fantastic three-point shooter but Lowry is capable enough to create the same gravity on offense. Dragic is a strong rim attacker yet Lowry can do that as well while drawing more fouls. Erik Spoelstra will love coaching Lowry. Lowry provides more coaching on the floor and a player who will lead by example.

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After reading this glowing praise of Lowry, you would think that I'm going to write that he will greatly boost their NBA odds to win the championship. Unfortunately, top sportsbooks don't think that's the case. As important as Lowry is, and a definite addition and upgrade, it will still come down to this: “Can the Heat stars keep up with the other stars in the East?” Butler and Adebayo are a fantastic duo, yet when you compare them to the duo Giannis and Middleton, the duo of Harden and Durant, and the duo of Embiid and whoever the Sixers acquire for Ben Simmons, they could fall short in the star department. I still think their chances to win the title and to win the Eastern conference are slim thanks to the returning balance of power in the NBA. Before, the West was so much better. Now, with some stars migrating East, the balance of power has shifted. While the Eastern Conference does not have the depth of the Western Conference, the cream of the crop is as good or better as its Western counterparts.

Predictions

The best bet for team futures is to bet Miami to win the Southeast division. Lowry puts Miami in a commanding lead to win the division, with its main threat being the upstart Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks should improve as well even without roster changes. They have many young players who can be counted on to improve as they continue their development. Lowry provides great defense on the position that the Hawks rely on the most, the point guard named Trae Young. Lowry adds a lot in this head-to-head match up and in a division I expect to be close. Being able to win these head-to-head games could provide the difference when it comes to grabbing the division title.

Kyle Lowry, former player of the Toronto Raptors looks on during a game. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

NBA odds are not out on the division title currently. Bovada (visit our Bovada Review) does offer an interesting prop for Kyle Lowry for this upcoming season. Lowry over 6.5 assists is -120. Since 2010, Lowry has only failed to achieve this number twice, in 2012 and 2015. In both of those seasons, he averaged 6.4 assists! This number assumes that Lowry will have a downgrade in usage on his new team but he will also be motivated to fit in. What better way than dropping dimes to your teammates so they can up their scoring?! Here we find an advantage over the uncertainty of the bookmakers for the new situation and play Kyle Lowry over 6.5 assists for the 2020-2021 season.

NBA Pick: Kyle Lowry Over 6.5 assists for the 2021-22 season (-120) Bovada.

*The pick reflects the line at the moment the writer made the play, the odds at the beginning of this article show the live line movement. Since the lines might vary, don’t forget to refer back to our live odds.