Photo Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY
Kyle Lowry Heading Home to Philadelphia Makes Complete Sense
Two weeks ago, Kyle Lowry announced he will opt-out of the final year of his current contract and become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Lowry claims he hasn’t officially thought about where he will decide to play next season, but is interested in joining a winning culture.
Cough, cough, the San Antonio Spurs, who will need a valuable point guard to fill Tony Parker’s place as he gets older…
But, Lowry has also noted returning home to play for the Philadelphia 76ers is also an option.
According to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the 76ers have their down interest in Lowry.
“Sources have said the North Philly native has been interested in playing for the Sixersr for some time. The speculation only heightened once Bryan Colangelo became the president of basketball operations in April 2016. As the Raptors general manager, Colangelo acquired Lowry in a trade from the Houston Rockets on July 11, 2012. The two have remained good friends since then.”
“And sources have always said that the Sixers planned to offer Lowry a lucrative contract this summer.”
Though success would not be instant, the Philadelphia 76ers are a team on the rise and Kyle Lowry should not pass them up. Joel Embiid proved he could become a superstar if his health becomes more consistent, European sensation Dario Saric fulfilled Rookie of the Year-like numbers, and No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons is coming into the 2017-18 season with a chip on his shoulder. Philadelphia has other young, valuable pieces who are developing nicely and of course, the number three draft pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
To lure Lowry to Philadelphia, the money must be on the table. In the summer of 2014, he signed a four-year, $48 million deal with Toronto and had All-Star success ever since. It has been made known Lowry is seeking a maximum contract, and the 76ers have more-than-enough cap space to fulfill his needs.
Kyle Lowry’s five seasons spent in Toronto resulted in three All-Star selections and four seasons where his scoring numbers were upward of 17.0 per game, much regular season success, but experienced Playoffs exasperation year after year. Most recently, a second round sweep by LeBron James and the reigning champion Cleveland Cavaliers.
If Lowry joins the 76ers, he will be a veteran leader for the first time in his career. At 31-years-old and twelve years playing at the professional level, he could give the young roster veteran leadership and encourage fellow free-agents into signing with them. If Philadelphia continues their idea of shaping Ben Simmons into a point-forward, Lowry can show him the ropes and tricks-of-the-trade.
Kyle Lowry is a product of Philadelphia–he spent all of his childhood living there and played for Villanova from 2004-06. As done recently by other stars, returning home may be at the top of the list for Lowry.
Lowry is coming off the best season of his career, averaging career-highs in points (22.4), rebounds (4.8), field goal percentage (46.4) and three-point percentage (41.2) to go along with 7.0 assists per game.
Returning home to a young team may be risky and may take time to come together, but having success in the Eastern Conference is more likely than moving out West. It’ll be interesting to see if Kyle Lowry will sacrifice the final years of his prime to chase triumph in a different city.
