With the Toronto Raptors on the outside looking in of the play-in tournament in the Eastern Conference, Kyle Lowry’s name has been rumored as a potential trade target for teams that need a backcourt boost. As for whether or not he gets moved before next Thursday’s deadline is a different matter, but according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the team is going to make sure it does right by him.
On Thursday’s episode of The Woj Pod, Wojnarowski was asked about whether or not Lowry will end up being traded. While he made sure to not sound definitive either way, he did say that the door is open if he wants a move.
“I think he could,” Wojnarowski said. “I still think Toronto’s gonna give him a lot of voice — if he wants to be moved and where he would like to play.”
What does that mean? Well, Wojnarowski expressed that the Raptors understand that trading Lowry just to trade him is not a good idea, and as a result, they’re not going to come to terms on a deal with a team that would make him unhappy.
“The one thing I know with Kyle Lowry and how they’re gonna handle that, how they are handling that, is they’re not gonna send him somewhere that you’d consider an outpost — a lottery team, for the rest of the year, in a place where his Bird Rights, for him, aren’t gonna matter because he probably wouldn’t wanna stay there,” Wojanrowski said. “What he’s done for the Raptors, in helping them win a championship and a player who will be remembered as one of their all-time greats, I know Masai’s not going to send him somewhere he really doesn’t wanna go.”
The Raptors have been dealt a near-impossible hand this season, having to play their games in Tampa and at one point dealing with a major COVID outbreak among their team. They sit 17-23 on the year and have lost their last six games in a row.