GOODBYE LOWRY: Raptors lose franchise icon to Miami Heat

Article content

After many false starts, the greatest Raptor of them all, Kyle Lowry, is a Raptor no more.

Though nothing can become official until Friday, Lowry is heading to the Miami Heat, he has confirmed on Twitter.

Lowry, who turned 35 in March, will join his close friend Jimmy Butler, rising star big man Bam Adebayo and a quality supporting cast. He’ll be able to golf every day if he wants to and won’t pay any state taxes. Also, Miami should be in the post-season mix in the East, so it’s not like he’s seeking an early retirement in Florida as so many Torontonians have done before him.

The Raptors did retain fellow guard Gary Trent Jr., who had been acquired for Norman Powell at March’s trade deadline. Trent will get a three-year, $54-million deal, with the final year being a player option, according to reports.

The Raptors had been expected to deal Lowry at the deadline, but nothing got done and instead, he held court with the media the next day for half an hour at what kind of felt like a living wake.

It wasn’t the first time Lowry was supposed to be heading elsewhere. He was nearly dealt to New York after Masai Ujiri had earlier unloaded Andrea Bargnani and Rudy Gay.

But Lowry, in a huge stroke of luck for the franchise, remained. He didn’t initially think he’d stay, the first inkling was he’d play out his contract and then go. Instead, he signed for three years in July of 2014 and did the same in 2017, before adding an additional year in 2019.

Toggle full screen modePrevious Gallery Image

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

11. 

12. 

13. 

14. 

15. 

16. 

17. 

18. 

19. 

20. 

21. 

Next Gallery ImageToggle gallery captions

View All 21 Photos

1 of 21

All 21 Photos for Gallery

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 

Function Not Available

Full Screen is not supported on this browser version.

You may use a different browser or device to view this in full screen.

OK

And another time that Lowry’s name came up in rumours he didn’t seem to care much. “If it happens it happens. I mean, I was traded from here, what, two years ago? I was gone. I’m still here, so, sh– happens,” Lowry had said.

But this time, he’s actually gone.

There’s a lot to eulogize when it comes to Lowry’s near decade run with Toronto. When he arrived in Toronto as a shrewd acquisition by then general manager Bryan Colangelo, the hope was he’d become one of the league’s elite point guards.

“Given the keys, I think I can drive this car to a playoff team,” Lowry had said. He didn’t just become the driver of the Raptors, he became the engine and the sparkplug too, all while never letting the gas tank get empty.

He had to beat out Jose Calderon for the starting job, which eventually happened. He had to find his way with Dwane Casey, which eventually happened. He had to control his emotions, work on his game and fitness and get the best out of his abilities, which eventually happened.

He had to get over the trade of his best friend, DeMar DeRozan, too and make the Kawhi Leonard experience — and all of the good and the bad that comes with having a mercurial talent like that on board — work, too.

Lowry leaves, most importantly, as the man who picked up the slack and set the tone in Game 6 of the NBA Finals in 2019, making sure the Raptors would win the NBA title. But he also exits as the franchise leader in assists, steals, three-pointers, triple-doubles (with 13 more than anybody else), fouls, charges drawn and just about every advanced stat you could imagine. The six-time all-star drove — pun intended — winning more than any Raptor the franchise has had, aside from Leonard and maybe a prime Vince Carter.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

Miami needed to utilize a sign-and-trade in order to land Lowry, which meant an agreement had to be reached with the Raptors. The details on that are not yet concrete, but it was believed veteran point guard Goran Dragic, along with compensation in the form of young assets such as Precious Achiuwa or KZ Okpala and/or draft picks would be coming Toronto’s way. It was expected Dragic, who was playing for Slovenia on Monday in Tokyo at the Olympics, would head to a third team — potentially Dallas, to be with countryman and pal Luka Doncic — maintaining Toronto’s cap space.

Even with Lowry gone, Toronto still has Fred VanVleet and Malachi Flynn at point guard, with Pascal Siakam, No. 4 draft pick Scottie Barnes and even OG Anunoby capable of being secondary ball-handlers this season. Trent can do a bit of that too, but is much more of a shooter at this point. Centre remains an obvious need, along with more shooting.

It’s a shame that Lowry didn’t get a sendoff in Toronto. His last home game was Feb. 28, 2020. Fittingly, he put up a 21-point, six-assist, six-rebound, two-block, two-steal performance, though surprisingly, it came in a loss.

Lowry was then outstanding in the bubble at Orlando, solid and at times, better than that in the playoffs, before turning in one of his best shooting years in an injury-marred 2020-21.

In a twist of fate, Lowry will become the third hall-of-fame calibre Raptor to leave the franchise for Florida. Tracy McGrady went to Orlando, Chris Bosh to Miami. At least Tampa Bay gave the franchise back to Canada after borrowing it for a year.

And at least Lowry will eventually be back.

“Let me say this: I will retire as a Toronto Raptor. One-day contract, hey, whatever happens,” Lowry said in March when he wasn’t traded.

Here’s something else Lowry said, much earlier, when he first arrived: “Every year, given the opportunity, I will produce. I’m not going to give myself a ceiling, I’m not going to give myself a cap. I’m going to be the best I can be and give it my all every single night.”

And that he most certainly did.

rwolstat@postmedia.com

@WolstatSun

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEW NEWSLETTER, YOUR MIDDAY SUN!