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Bring Lowry back to Raptors? Heat looking to ditch the Toronto legend

Adam Laskaris
Adam Laskaris
|
Jun 27 2023, 7:39 pm
Bring Lowry back to Raptors? Heat looking to ditch the Toronto legend
Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

The greatest player in Toronto Raptors history could be on the move this summer.

According to the Miami Herald‘s Barry Jackson, the Heat are looking at “multiple exit avenues” to get Kyle Lowry’s deal off the books for next season, with the veteran point guard heading into the final year of a three-year contract set to pay him $29.7 million in 2023-24.

“According to two sources, the Heat has been giving thought to potentially using the waive-and-stretch provision on Lowry if Miami is unable to trade him, though a firm decision on that has not been made. That waive-and-stretch mechanism would allocate his remaining cap hit equally over three seasons,” Jackson wrote on Tuesday.

Jackson added that such a waive would have to be completed before September 1, with Miami also looking at possibly using Lowry’s contract in a trade to send him somewhere else next season.

Lowry averaged 11.2 points, 5.1 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 55 games this season, while he averaged 9.2 points, 4.4 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 23 games in the 2023 playoffs. He originally joined the Heat in the summer of 2021, inking a sign-and-trade with Toronto that sent Precious Achiuwa and Goran Dragic back to the Raptors.

Lowry averaged 17.5 points, 7.1 assists and 4.9 rebounds in 601 games for the Raptors in his career, playing nine seasons that were topped off by winning the franchise’s first NBA title in 2019.

Never ones to be calm on the internet, Raptors fans speculated that the news about the Heat trying to rid themselves of Lowry’s contract could signal his return back to Toronto next season.

Of course, Toronto’s got their own players to deal with, as the team is still looking to find a way to re-sign Jakob Poeltl and Fred VanVleet, both set to hit unrestricted free agency this week.

Last season, Lowry admitted that he still watches nearly every Raptors game that he can, keeping tabs on former teammates such as VanVleet, Poeltl, Pascal Siakam, Chris Boucher, OG Anunoby, and Gary Trent Jr.

“They’re my guys,” Lowry said to Daily Hive earlier this season about the current Raptors’ roster. “[Fred VanVleet’s] literally like my little brother. I talk to him every other day, twice a week, three, four times a week maybe.”

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